Instantaneous: In a Twinkling
by SecretDisguise
Summary: One day, 3 brothers started their journey as official Trainers. The next day, they and most of the world, get transformed into the Pokemon themselves. Their friends, their enemies, gym leaders, champions; all transformed. The three brothers strive to figure out how to become human again while continuing their journey as Pokemon. TF.
1. Prologue

**Disclaimer: **Before anything else, I want to disclaim Pokemon. Pokemon is not mine. It's under Nintendo's, Creatures Inc.'s, and GAME FREAK Inc's copyrights. The Pokemon themselves, the places in Pokemon, the fictional details and characters in the Pokemon games and anime (and manga) are theirs, not mine. The story itself, in its unique form, is mine and the original characters in this story (unless they are other user's original characters, which the owners voluntarily submitted to me, securing their permission) are mine.

* * *

"A large ship was coming to Canalave City fast. Very fast. The blue waves look like blurs at this speed. I think we are going too fast. The saltwater splashed all over me, even in my mouth. And yes, I tasted it. The 3 of us are going to Sinnoh for the start of our Pokemon journey, even if we are at an average age of 15. The region we came from had no Pokemon and it sits alone as the only region in the world without Pokemon, because some smart genius came up with an idea to test his very secret chemical there. But I think most Pokemon have an extremely keen sense of smell because the Pokemon who used to live there in our region, ran away from it. I saw it in the news, weather be it newspaper, news radio stations or news channels. I heard stories of Pokemon getting out of their Poke Balls, abandoning their trainer and did their best to get away from the chemical by running away as far as they can go. I saw many children crying because their Pokemon ran away. It was like taking a bite of the most delicious cake in the whole wide world, then some mean guy takes the whole cake—even the piece you're eating—away from you. I think that's a bad metaphor but you get the point. But that wasn't the end of the agony; weeks later, the Governor of the region approved of the project, and let a lot of scientists and researchers of that chemical to that region to improve their project, whatever it was.

"Since then, our region became somewhat like Area 51. Before I continue, I would like to say that the region we came from was Almia; you know; the one that had a lot of Pokemon Rangers, just to let you know. The population of the region started to decrease. And it was so fast. For most of our lives, we lived in a place called Pueltown. It was bustling, maybe because it was the heart of Almia or something like that. Well, it used to be bustling, until just days ago. There were signs that people started disappearing. Weird thing is, the more the population decreased, the more Pokemon started to appear in and around Pueltown. There doesn't seem to be a logical reason why is that, other than the fact that many people don't want to be part of it and the vast majority of those left either left or surrendered themselves to the project. Or maybe that some Pokemon think it's OK to occupy any empty area they see. I know this because, a week before we went to this cruise, a scientist from the project knocked in our door. He was Dr. Hammington, but I think he likes to be referred as 'Hammy'. Maybe he likes pork, but that doesn't matter now. He gave us a flyer about being experiments for the new project that the "smart genius" is building and that he's almost finished, he needs experiments for it. I thought that we can get away with it easily by just denying it. But when I was about to deny the offer, the scientist said that the Governor issued a rule concerning about it: If we deny it, we face some sort of fine, maybe even imprisonment, or perhaps we may get forced to the experiment, or we may get moved out of the region. So much for keeping people in when you're threatening them to some sort of exile. We denied it, hoping that the scientist was a bit nicer than the Governor.

"Glad we're lucky, the scientist _was _a bit nicer than the Governor. He said that we have to move out by next week. During that time, we packed our bags, with Dave and Wallace jumping up and down to close the briefcases filled with some clothes and our other stuff. I ended up not jumping on mine, since it contained my laptop and a dozen of high-end games. Everything that we needed and wanted was with us. And then we took the cruise. But I couldn't keep my mind off that moment when the Pokemon went away from Almia; Things are already starting to get worse, when other lesser-known regions started to lose their Pokemon. Even worse, I heard that the plan was moved to Unova for final testing. I don't want to know what ever experiment it is that they are testing or the results. It's just plain cruel and you know it when Pokemon are running away from it; besides, Unova is overflowing with Pokemon, and if they mess it up there, we could have an environmental breakdown on our hands. I just hope the Pokemon-running-away event was just a side-effect of an incomplete experiment; I just hope so. And according to the distance the ship covered so far, I think it will take around 13 - 14 hours befor—"

"Mark. We're here"

* * *

A/N: Prologue has been edited.


	2. Dreams Come True

**Chapter 1:**

**Dreams Come True**

* * *

The morning sun was rising ahead, shining about almost anything in its path. The sprawling City of Castelia was being shone by the sun's brightness. Everyone, except one man cared. The man was in the typical garb of a scientist. His hair was graying and wore glasses. He also sported a French beret on his head. He had a serious look in his face. He looked at his surroundings to make sure no one was aware of him. Then, he went into a nearby alley. He looked in the wall, looking left and right to see if anyone was watching. He then touched one brick, being part of the already-big-and-filled-with-a-bucket-load-of-bricks wall. Then, the ground shook, leaving behind him a set of stairs to something like a basement of the ground or an adjacent building. He went down quietly, trying to make sure no one saw or even felt the occasion. The man went down and when he reached the door, not far from the stairs, the ground shook again and the stairs disappeared, leaving only a man, a door, a hallway, and a single light on the ceiling, illuminating the small hallway.

The man walked near the door and opened it with his key. The room was a big, circular, black room, with many monitors, a control panel, and a few people sitting near it, interacting with the panel as if they know what all the buttons and sliders do (because they actually do). In the middle was a holographic symbol. It showed a globe with a big letter "U" circling it. In the man's side of the room was the same: monitors, panels, and people knowing about it. At the left and right sides of the room were arched holes, which look like they lead to another room. The man went to the far end of the room and was greeted by the one who was in charge.

"So you got the final chemical needed for the experiment, Fleur?" The man in charge asked.

Fleur pulled out a test tube from his suit pocket, and gave it to the man in charge.

"Finally, the last chemical for the experiment is here." The man remarked, looking intently at its contents. "Okay. Come with me Fleur."

The man in charge went in one of the arched holes with Fleur. It was a long walk through the tunnel but after around 15 minutes, they saw light. When they went through the end of the tunnel, it was another circular room, but this time, it was white. Plus, there was a very big, translucent tube in the center. A few scientists were working with some computers and machines attached to the walls of the room.

"Now, Fleur, all you need to do is to insert the test tube in this hole, and then the scientists will do the rest. I suggest that you say here; you'll see history change in front of your very eyes!"

* * *

"Hey Mark, I knew it was a bad Idea going to Canalave City to get to Sandgem Town."

The trio of brothers knew the same thought. The only thing that stands between them and Jubilife City, the final stop to Sandgem Town is a route with a seemingly impassible river. The 3 of them knew much about swimming and Wallace even won a gold medal in his local swimming competition but what made the river impassible is the water Pokemon that thrive there. Most Pokemon could hurt people and some moves would cause disease or even death. But, it was the last challenge before they start their Pokemon journey; the brothers wouldn't let anything block their Pokemon Journey, and they wouldn't let anything block them starting it—even if they had to start it in their mid-teenage years.

"But Mark, we tried asking a sailor and he said he'll be there in a moment. Well it's almost 30 minutes and if I'm not mistaken, 30 minutes is too long for a moment." Dave said sarcastically.

Mark said nothing for a moment (not 30 minutes), then…

"We got to swim it."

"But there are Pokemon there and we might get hurt!" Wallace complained, in fear that his brother might get hurt trying to swim through the river.

Mark ignored Wallace's warning. He lifted his hands and he was ready to swim—with all his clothes on. And then, when he was about to jump. A sailor shouted at them.

"Hey, you should not swim to the end of the river!"

It was the kind sailor that Dave talked about. The trio looked at him. He had a Pokeball. Was he going to give them their starter Pokemon? Not possible. He only had one Pokeball and there are 3 of them. But they heard that up to 6 Pokemon can fit inside one Pokeball; they didn't know if it was a fact or a false. So it's a 50/50

"Hey! If you want to get across, I got a Mantyke!" The thin, dark-skinned sailor shouted at them, holding a Poke Ball, and obviously—to the trio's relief—containing the Mantyke needed to pass the river.

The trio was surprised. The sailor only met them twice yet he's gonna help them. The sailor went near the river, shouted "Mantyke, use Surf and cross the river!" and the Poke Ball glowed white then it burst out white energy. The white energy started to take shape and after a few seconds, it was a Mantyke. The brothers never saw a lot of Pokemon after what happened back in Almia.

The Mantyke went in the water, but at that moment, another problem arose. The Mantyke was only big enough for one person to ride. Another setback was the fear of drowning. It was around 3 feet in length and width so it looks like it doesn't have the strength to carry even one person. So the plan was that they send one to the Mantyke and go to the end, return for the next one and continue until all 3 of them are safe and sound at the other side. The plan went well. When Dave went first, he was scared about drowning and never getting back up. Even if he did, the water-type Pokemon will do the drowning for him. But the trip was not as expected. It was safe. It could be said the same for the next 2 boys.

"Have a nice time!" The sailor shouted as he waved at them and got his Mantyke back. Although it was a distance away, the trio were met again with a familiar sight. The sailor shouted "Mantyke, return to your Poke Ball!" The Mantyke started to turn into the white energy again and returned into the Pokeball. After that, the trio went to Jubilife City to rent a room in an apartment near Sandgem Town. Then, they unpacked their stuff and left the apartment to get their starter Pokemon.

* * *

As they neared Professor Rowan's lab, Wallace said something.

"What will the professor be like? Any ideas?"

"I have a hunch that he is a nice guy, like all the Pokemon professors I have met so far in my life." Mark replied calmly.

"Well, we don't even know what this professor even looks like, so we only have theories." Wallace stated.

"Hey. We can just figure it out ourselves." Dave said as he joined in the conversation.

Then they opened the door. The lab is filled with a nice, tiled, blue floor with machines on the sides and back of the Lab. Professor Rowan was nowhere in sight.

"Hello, are you there?" Mark shouted.

After the shout, the only door in the Lab, other than the exit, had its doorknob shaking. Looks like it was either that it was locked from the outside of the room, or the doorknob wasn't working. But a few seconds later, a figure went out of the door. The old man had gray hair and a gray mustache. He had a brown jacket on with green shirt and white pants. It was Professor Rowan.

"There is no need to shout." The professor greeted as he addressed the three brothers of to-be Pokemon Trainers. "The doorknob is just a little rusty that's all. Was about to buy some oil."

"But, Professor Rowan, what about the start of our Pokemon journey? " Wallace complained

"There's no need to whine. In fact, you're came just in time. This is the last batch of starters before we run out for the rest of the month."

Professor Rowan gave 3 Pokeballs to the boys, one each. Mark got a Chimchar, Dave got a (male) Piplup and Wallace got a Turtwig. And they got to see each of their first Pokemon in action—for real. The trio and Rowan went in an empty field with targets in the shape of Pine cone trees. The trio sent out their Pokemon and fiercely attacked their respective targets.

"Chimcar! Scratch the target!"

"Piplup, use Pound and aim it at the target!"

"Turtiwg, go for the target and hit it with Tackle!"

And all 3 targets broke within a few hits. The trio returned their Pokemon to their respective Poke Balls. After the so-called intensive training, Rowan gave them a couple of potions, a Revive and a pair of Oran Berries for each teen. Then they waved back to Rowan as they leave the lab. After a few fights with each other in Route 202, they realized that the sun has already set and the moon was up. They went back to their room in the apartment, put the 3 Poke Balls in a special place, which is on their study table, and exchanged "good nights" with each other, as they literally leaped into bed with excitement of finally being a trainer…

...and of course, Dave turned off the lights.

* * *

"Sir, the experiment is ready for initiation!"

"Okay. Fleur, I want you to help. Give me all the backup chemicals in case we have a problem."

Fleur hurried to the other side of the room to get the vials that contained the backup chemicals.. He placed them on the neat desk near the gigantic tube. Then the roof turned transparent, revealing the starry sky above it.

"10…9…8…" a voice announced, beginning the countdown.

The rest of the tube above the ground started to rise, with a hole at the other end. With sand blocking less than half of the transparent roof, it was a sign that they are now under Route 4 in Unova.

"..7…6...5...4…"

The tube started to glow brightly and the glow started to shine even brighter as each number was spoken.

"..3...2...1..."

The tube started to rise even more up to the point where it was tall as a four-story building.

"And..." The countdown guy proclaimed, "with no problems whatsoever, we fire."

The tube glowed extremely bright and the tube shot a laser, then it exploded in mid-air, which caused the whole view above the transparent roof to also be blank white. Then, as if it was doomsday, the glow shined to the point it was pure white, spreading it's blinding shininess over the whole world.

"You were right, chief;" Fleur muttered, "history will change."

"Do you want to watch it all unfold when the sun rises, Fleur?" the man in charge.

* * *

The light spread through the entire region at speeds that continued to rise. In just a minute, the light was beyond Unova. It went to the oceans and the lands. It seemed to spread to the entire world.

* * *

"What?!" A female trainer exclaimed at the sight of the sign posted on the door. "Why do you have to close by midnight?!"

Then, a glow seem to come from behind. The trainer noticed the light and she turned back. But she had no time to react at all. She was engulfed in the light in a matter of milliseconds.

The light stayed for only a few seconds. Just as quickly as it had appeared, it disappeared.

But the human trainer was no longer there. Instead, under a big shoulder bag, was a Shieldon—a Pokemon.


	3. Initial Shock

**Chapter 2:**

**Initial Shock**

"**Looks like Makarov's Intel was solid. This is it" ~ Captain Price**

The tube fired a white laser and exploded in mid-air.

The explosion covered the whole region, even to consider the whole world, with a great, white blanket of light. It was a beautiful sight, the covering of the whole world with white blankness. This is not to show-off special effects with lights for popular concerts. Everyone who was still awake at that time dropped and slept 'till the morning. The man in charge checked the final box in the list he's holding, which looks like the list of chemicals needed for the experiment to work. He grinned evilly as the sights above the transparent roof stayed white. He really didn't care for most of the people on the surface. The staff that worked for him did care about their loved ones and are afraid about what is happening to the innocent people, the societies of both the rich and poor and maybe what is happening will even rich to those in the Presidential Cabinet. Until further notice, the people in the hideout, except the man in charge, will not know what will happen outside. But what happens to the sleeping ones? The unimaginable happens to them…unless, of course, they happen to have a dream to that unimaginable event.

The glorious "Ode to Joy" from Beethoven; specifically the finale part of the symphony is the favorite of many. The delighted choir singing the somewhat-German lyrics of the finale, combined with the classic yet joyous music, consisting of violins, trumpets, tubas and that sort of stuff. Some even put said finale as a ringtone for their cellphones…and that's what Dave did to his. Dave's morning wake-up alarm is the earliest among the three, being around 5:45 AM.

And the joyous "Ode to Joy" finale plays from Dave's cellphone, both smoothly and loudly, loud enough to wake them up to an extent.

The trio groaned because they were sleeping like babies….who learned how to snore. As their vision starts to clear, something is not right. The beds seem to be a lot larger than before. The walls seem a lot larger than before. In fact, _everything_ seems to be a lot larger. But that was not the worst of it all. When Wallace tried to stand up, he felt something heavy was on his back and couldn't completely stand up, forcing him to stand on all four limbs. When he went tried to lift his "hands" to carry whatever was making him too heavy to stand, he was surprised. His "hands" looked yellow at the tips and green at the rest of his arms. He also realized that he has no fingers. The end of the now-very-short arm is instead, a circular stub. He tried to say (or rather shout) "WHAT?" He heard his own voice, but also heard another voice at the same time. "TWIG!" He knew something was seriously wrong. He climbed up the mini ladder to the closed window (Dave put that there, to let the Pokemon climb the ladder to see what's outside) and saw his reflection.

Much to his mixed feelings of shock, surprise and excitement, the reflection was a cute, green, Grass-type Turtwig.

Wallace gasped in amazement, shock and disappointment. He was somehow changed into a Turtwig; since he (obviously) has brothers, he thought that maybe the same happened to them. But there's a chance that it's a something like Karma he read in some books made by authors in the minor regions. He thought he was doing bad stuff lately, this was his punishment and he's the only one that had transformed; but the Karma theory was unlikely, since some people like to transform into Pokemon. Wallace turned around, jumped down to the floor; noticing that he can run quicker than he usually did (when he was a human). When he went to their triple bedroom (3 beds in one room), Wallace heard groans, presenting the fact that the brothers like sleeping (and hate early alarms, because at this point, the ringtone is still there). He was expecting them to be tall people. But, he saw them in a different way: Mark is now a Fire-Type Chimchar and Dave is now a Water-Type Piplup.

Mark didn't realize he had changed into a Chimchar. But what he saw when his eyesight got clear, he saw what he thought was Wallace's Turtwig. He also noticed that the Turtwig got a whole lot bigger. Or that he got a lot smaller.

"Woah! I thought a single Turtwig is just a foot high!" Mark cried. He also noticed another voice at the moment he said, but decided to ignore it.

"Mark! I am not Wallace's Turtwig. I AM Wallace" Wallace told Mark. Wallace and Mark found it a bit stressful when trying to talk to someone who had been transformed into a Pokemon and heard 2 voices when they try to speak with each other clearly.

"Hey guys! I think something just happened to all of us!" Dave yelled groggily at the other two, realizing what seems to be the reality of the situation right away.

That's when all 3 brothers started to look at themselves. They were astonished that they are now Pokemon. Who and why that happened to them was unknown. Mark told everyone that it was a dream…. where all 3 can see the same thing and interact with each other. They decided to just calm down and sleep in their beds for around 20 minutes (Mark didn't burn the bed), since that 20 minutes is an estimated maximum for a very long dream. However, after 30 minutes of sleeping, after they woke up, they saw the sunlight reaching their bedroom through the window. When they saw each other and themselves through the reflection of the window, they realized it's not a dream. _It Is Real._

"Oh no! It is true! We are transformed into Pokemon! What are we going to do?" Dave cried out.

"Maybe we can still go through our Pokemon journey normally. We will just pretend that nothing happened!" Wallace suggested.

"Pretend that NOTHING HAPPENED! HOW CAN WE DO THAT IF WE ARE POKEMON AND IT'S REALLY TRUE!" Mark screamed, not aware that his 'fire tail' just grew hotter and bigger.

"Hey, hey Mark. Chill down dude! Even if we will be like this for the rest of their lives, maybe we can fight other Pokemon and even the gym leaders!" Dave said, trying to calm Mark.

After a while, Mark did calm down, but not without some damage. He used Ember to show his anger, partly because he just turned into a Pokemon and partly because he was now not able to cool down easily. The floor and wall had some black spots. All 3 beds were lightly damaged. Study table, hardly damaged, thanks to Dave, being a Piplup, because he used Bubble at the fire. The ceiling has a few holes, and since the Pokemon they changed into were less than 3 or 2 feet tall, they really couldn't do much to save the ceiling (Yes, they ordered a penthouse room). Then they started how to get down to the first floor. They first started with using the elevator, but they realize that the buttons were too high to reach, but Wallace had an idea.

"Maybe if we stand on each other, we can push the button and get down!" That was his idea; at first, the other two thought it was ridiculous, but soon, they saw the point in his idea.

And that's what they did. Turtwig went first, Mark stood on Wallace's hard shell and Dave climbed over Wallace and Mark. Dave had a hard time reaching the button labeled 'G', and then, Dave finally reached it, with a sounding crash to the soft, red carpet. Then, as the numbers of the elevator screen started to count down, they were concerned about a few things though. First, what is the reaction of the people at the ground floor? There is a great possibility that the 3 of them are just the ones who changed and the reaction is either gasping of shock or laughter. Second, what will happen if they battle other Pokemon? They know that some moves, like Giga Impact, are very painful. Even if the brothers have a very high threshold of pain, they are dead scared of moves like that, because they don't know how painful it will be. Third, the fact of being captured then trapped in a Pokeball.It was not what will happen inside the Pokeball that mattered, but the fact that once you are captured, you will have to obey your Trainer's orders. Perhaps a Mudkip wants use Mud-slap but what if the trainer says Tackle? Then the Mudkip will use Tackle. They wanted to be free, not to enslaved.

However, they are not the only ones adapting to their new forms. Once the elevator opened they saw lots of Pokemon in the lobby. The receptionist is now a Luxio, the elevator man is now a Mismagius, _everyone _is now a Pokemon. The trio looked outside. About _each and every one _outside transformed. The trio knows that something is up. Earlier, their transformation is confirmed real. So this is no dream. Some crazy scientist or whatever did this. Now the whole world is Pokemonized.

"Oh great. First, our transformation is not a dream, now EVERYONE transformed!" Mark shouted in anger, probably ready for another fiery rampage. The brothers hope it's not going to happen; but sadly, Mark is leaning to that side…


	4. Our Changes

**Chapter 3:**

**Our Changes**

"**Change is inevitable - except from a vending machine.****" ~ Robert C. Gallagher**

The trio of now-Pokemon brothers saw Pokemon of all kinds. There was a Chatot, a group of Murkrow, a Skuntank exiting the Pokemon Center. Let's just say that there is _no_ human in sight and lots of Pokemon of all types and sizes. Yesterday, the buildings inhabit normal humans and a small number of Pokemon. Today, these are just statues that _former_ humans made and a reminder to those who are transformed about their past life.

"Oh great. First, our transformation is not a dream, now EVERYONE transformed!" Mark shouted. His 'fire tail' starting to blaze more again. His eyes started to swirl red and white circles. Dave and Wllace don't want a rerun of this disaster again, so they attempt to calm him down….again. But they observed something strange with him.

When Mark was a human, he is a very calm guy and getting him to get angry is like trying to go around the world in a week, in other words: very challenging. Now that he's a Chimchar, his personality is the complete opposite: somewhat frequent mood swings, easily agitated and quick to get angry and sometimes jump to conclusions when the situation has little or no details revealed to him. Dave and Wallace are now completely sure that their personalities and traits are now inverted since they are now Pokemon. Dave is a guy who is also calm but on a different point of view. He likes whatever is on the table (even vegetables) and rarely brags. But because Dave is a Piplup, almost all of the time, he'll be a picky eater, he'll boast about himself and hard to please. Wallace's old personality is the quiet type. He is also lazy. He also reacts to fights in a very violent manner, he uses his karate moves as something to inflict pain rather than a system of self-defense. Wallace's new personality is a gentle, friendly Turtwig. He would try to talk to a Pokemon that just hurt him (not in a battle) and only use Pokemon moves as a last resort. Wallace will also be expecting an urge to do whatever personality a Turtwig has, which is being sociable, outgoing, lively and protective.

While Dave tries to calm Mark down using Bubble, Wallace just stood there, not thinking about the fight but what will happen to their journey, now that they are Pokemon plus their personalities turned upside-down and everyone now being a Pokemon, maybe even the gym leaders will be one of their Pokemon. And the changes that started to reveal get stranger every time. As Wallace sighed, it was more like he said "Turtwig" sadly, which is pretty strange at first.

Dave is trying to settle down Mark, and since he's a Water-type and Mark's a Fire-type, it'll be a bit dangerous, since he might make him faint. But he has no need to worry if Mark faints. A Pokemon center is nearby and a Chansey (A normal Nurse Joy has a Chansey as her main Pokemon, so the chances of a Chansey at the counter are very high) will be there inside to aid the fainted Pokemon.

"Why….won't…you….keep….still?" Dave knew that a Chimchar is the most agile of the three starters in Sinnoh, so Dave is really having a hard time hitting Mark with Bubble. But, like a see-saw with 2 kids on it, there is an advantage. The move can spring out multitudes of bubbles in quick succession and in just a short time. So, it's not easy, nor hard, Dave just wants to end it, and fast.

Mark is really having a hard time to concentrate, since he is enraged because he turned into a Pokemon. Mark is using Ember again and this time, the fire balls shot through the city, lightly damaging the buildings. Of course he liked them but he didn't want to BECOME one. Even if everyone is involved in the act, he only wanted one thing: To become human again and continue the journey as normal. Besides, he can think of many reasons why being transformed into Pokemon and then continue their journey is bad. And then….

"Ouch!"

Mark got hit by Dave's Bubble. Of course it was just a few bubbles that hurt him, but he's a Fire-type so Water-type moves hurt twice as much. Luckily, he didn't faint but he got hurt so bad that he wasn't able to move very fast. At the same time, Wallace noticed the event and got out of his thinking and rushed to Mark as fast as he can run (but he's a bit slower than the rest, because he's a Turtwig).

"Dave! Why did you have to do that!" Mark exclaimed at him.

"It was for your own good! If I didn't do that, you might have destroyed the whole city!"

"But I'm just a freakin' foot tall and around eight inches! And the whole freakin' city is a billion times bigger than us!"

"Yeah! The least I could do was to minimize the damage!"

"But those buildings are SKYSCRAPERS! They're more than 12 stories high and some of them are made up of steel!"

"Well, Steel-type Pokemon are weak to Fire-types….like you!"

"I said SOME! Most of these buildings are made up of metal!"

"Metal and Steel are almost the EXACT SAME THING!"

"QUIET!"

Dave and Mark looked at Wallace. Wallace's personality, changed, so he wanted to make the two stop.

"Guys! We can't go through our journey like this! We need to work together to defeat the gyms, why we are transformed, who did it and maybe even get our old selves back!" Wallace explained, trying to get the two back together.

"C'mon, maybe we can meet other Pokemon that are former humans and feel the same way. So if it's like that, maybe we should be a station!" Wallace said as he put down pieces of wood for shelter, smaller pieces of wood for campfire, and a few blankets and a whole bunch of leaves for beds and pillows.

"What do you mean? A train station? We'll not even be halfway done with those materials!" Mark complained, misunderstanding Wallace's point.

"No. Not TRAIN station, a Pokemon station! It's for Pokemon trainers who are changed into Pokemon, like us, to survive and train and battle each other and even get prepared for a gym battle!" Wallace explained, once again.

"Oh I get it! Where are the targets?" Dave questioned

"I'll get the targets after we get a couple of changed people into our station!" Wallace cheerily replied.

So they traveled to the route east of Jubilife City, which is also the route to Oreburgh City, where the first gym is located. They built their station, but not without more arguments….

"Hey Dave, did Wallace tell us to use this type of wood as the roof?" Mark asked

"Yes! You just need to-"Dave tried to explain, when Mark cut him off

"What? I have heard of triangular roofs, flat roofs, even the very thin triangular ones in some classic buildings, but I never heard of a roof that you don't need to mold or cut." Mark argued

"But you HAVE to CUT it! Didn't you see Wallace use Tackle on the log to shape into a flat log before he left to get some Oran Berries?" Dave explained

"Ok. Didn't notice." Mark answered. That's when he started to see the changes of his personality. He remembered himself a few days ago, answering a quiz with only one mistake because he took his time and looked in the facts, remembering what he studied, analyze the facts, reanalyze if the question was hard and answer it with ease. Now, he is fast to wrap-up something with only a little amount of detail known to him. If his old personality was kept, this argument would've been avoided, but his personality reversed when he changed, so it's a big problem in the long run.

When Wallace came back with a dozen and a half of Oran Berries in hand (he used an eco-bag that he found in the lobby), he saw that they were only half done with the roof.

"Hey folks! What's taking you a bit long in building the roof? I thought it'll be very easy and fast to do!" Wallace said, noticing a slow start.

"Ummm. We argued." Dave and Mark said in unison.

"Oh bother….."

When sundown came, Wallace told Mark to light up the campfire with Ember. After Mark used Ember, it the campfire lighted up, and when Wallace examined the quality of the fire (how he does it is unknown), he predicted that it'll last until early morning, in the case that there's a midnight party or others among that line.

The gang put up a sign with the words "Pokemon station: Accepting member!"

The gang had to wait until around 9 and a half when their first members arrived….

"Hey, I hear a sound coming here!" Dave said

"It might be a Pokemon! He may even saw our sign! Let's go see him!" Wallace said.

"Hey be careful! He might be dangerous!" Mark warned

Despite Mark's warning, they just walked to where the Pokemon is without caution. It was a Shinx.

"Hi! Are you transformed humans as well? Well I just hope you are because I am a transformed human!" The now-Shinx said.

"Well, you can stay at our station!" Wallace said as he invited the Shinx into their station.

"Really? Well it's coincidental that happened because I was happening to find one myself!"

When they were reaching near the Pokemon station, Mark asked a question that ended with a surprise.

"So Mr. Shinx, what's your name?"

"You mean my human name? It's not Mr. Shinx but it's Nicolas!"

The gang stopped walking for a short moment. The name seems so familiar. The Shinx was also familiar from the start. How he greeted himself, how he answered Mark's question, it was all too good to be true. But Wallace wanted to make sure.

"I'll introduce the gang. I'm Wallce, the Piplup is Dave and the Chimchar is Mark."

Then the Shinx also got surprised.

"What? Are you my old friends during our first grade?"

"That's him!" Dave shouted with joy. The day started out as a bit of a burden but the night begins with a discovery of an old friend, who got up in the same situation as the gang suffered. At the same night, they made new friends with the other now-Pokemon. Then, like Wallace said it may happen, they had a party until about 2 o' clock in the morning. They ate the Oran Berries, played games and even battled each other without worry (because one of the new members is a Chansey, who happens to also be a former Nurse Joy). They all slept in their so-called beds, with Wallace the most tired (because he had to run back and forth from Jubilife City to get a few more blankets and a lot more leaves). The trio of brothers now have their first day as a Pokemon over and decide to sleep, awaiting for the next day.


	5. Up Close and Personality

**Chapter 4:**

**Up Close and Personality**

"**Without change, something sleeps inside us, and seldom awakens. The sleeper must awaken."**

**~ Frank Herbert**

* * *

As the rising sun dawned on the new day, the party of Pokemon members woke up (with a lot of groaning) to the day. Since Wallace appointed himself as the leader (since he was the one who thought about the idea first), he was the one who made the schedule. And a day at the Pokemon station all starts with an assembly.

"Arelo the Skorupi!"

"Present!"

"Jennifer the Cherrim!"

"Present!"

Let's not fill this up with lots of "Presents!" already. Skipping the assembly is the "Conservation Time". While Wallace and a few others [he assigned] get the breakfast berries, Nicolas asked something to Mark.

"Hey, did you experience an inversion?"

"Um…What do you mean?"

"I mean, I used to be a guy who doesn't experience happiness much and always got bored. But since I'm now a Shinx, I am experiencing the exact opposite: Almost all the time, I am upbeat and cheerful and always get excited when I hear of good news. But even worse, I just can't resist the urge to go back to my old personality. Are you experiencing that too?"

Then Mark thought about the 'taking the roof longer than I thought' incident. If his personality retained, he would have remember what Wallace told him and cut it like so. But since his personality is reversed, he jumped into a conclusion very quickly and argued about it until Dave reminded him what Wallace showed to him. So the event was a sign that his personality was reversed.

_Oh no, my Chimcar instincts reversed my wholesome personality into a ruthless one! What if I can't change my personality back? What if it controls me?_ Mark thought in fear, while at the same time, trying to decide a reasonable and believable answer to the Shinx's question.

"Ummm….I'm afraid yes."

Nicolas reply to his answer showed an even worse side to the problem, "Well, I know that's regretful. But, sadly, I think everyone's personality got reversed."

"I know that. You will see your first example once Wallace and the others get the berries ready."

* * *

At breakfast time, Wallace and the others got enough berries to "feed a human football team, their coach, and their assistant coach, and trainer and substitute players and still have a few leftovers" [Dave said].

And about the first example Mark told Nicolas. Here's the example:

"I want Rowap berries, not these almost tasteless Orans, Wallace!" Dave complained.

"But most of them are at Eterna Forest, you'll need a lot of traveling, and skills to get there, and besides, we haven't beaten Roark yet!" Wallace explained

"But what I said Wallace, they are almost TASTELESS!" Dave shouted at Wallace.

Wallace was surprised by Dave's new personality, and he knew he was correct; their personalities ARE reversed. Good thing they still have memories of their old ones. When Dave was a human, you can give him chocolate, no big deal. Give him vegetable salad, he's indifferent. Give him carrot cake, without the cake, no problem. Give him a bowl of vinegar with sliced green pickles and quinine as a substitute for water, okay he shrugs a bit. But look at him now. He only wants the tastiest of the tastiest. He would now rather eat the tastier berries than the normal, nearly tasteless ones [to him].

"Uhhmm….when you were a human, Dave, you used to eat almost everything served to you right?" Wallace questioned.

"Yeah, don't talk about the bowl of vinegar and that. I just want the Rowaps, fast!" Dave demanded

"Can you just remember your PAST LIFE, when you were a NORMAL HUMAN?" Wallace yelled at him.

"But I just want you to….what the?" Dave was puzzled

….

….Then Dave slowly compared to what he yelled to Wallace earlier with his old personality when he was a normal, regular human. Dave remembered that his favorite food was everything that was served to him. The delicious Chocolate cake, green vegetables and vibrant fruits, not so tasty tomato salad, raisins (except the bowl of vinegar meal). When Dave won a gold medal in a few local contests, he didn't brag or boast about it, he just kept it cool. He even got a golden trophy at the national swimming competition and he didn't show off in any way. Dave thought what would happen if his personality was still there when he transformed. He would appreciate the Oran and Chesto berries. He wouldn't boast about his fighting skills. But, he now had to experience a new personality. When he subdued Mark yesterday, he bragged about his abilities, even if they were the same level. So now, Dave didn't notice his second change [which is his personalities] until Wallace reminded him about it.

Dave started to worry about his change. He was the most expressional when it comes to this realization. Wallace started to notice Dave's eyes started to 'liquefy' [a sign that he is about to cry]. Then Dave started to sob a little.

"Why? Why did this happen to…me?" Dave chokingly said as his sobs continue to increase.

Eventually, Mark started to notice the sobs of Dave, which by now, are cries. Mark wanted to see what was happening there. But Dave went further into the forest to…cry a lot more. And to add in the crying, his cries sound like a Piplup too [I mean like their language].

However, he isn't the only one in (emotional) suffering.

* * *

**2 DAYS AGO**

In the Striton restaurant/gym, the sun was setting when Cilan noticed that it was already December, not noticing the passing of November. And he also missed a monthly Striton restaurant (I rather like to call it a restaurant) tradition by 7 days. Being angry at the fact he never missed this tradition, he called out his (somewhat) brothers: Chili and Cress, from the kitchen room.

"Guys! Do you remember our planned event?" Cilan yelled at the kitchen room, not noticing the customers are staring straight at him.

Chili and Cress didn't answer back, so he went straight into the clean, white kitchen room.

"Do you remember what we should have done during the first day of December!" Cilan yelled angrily at his brothers.

"We already served the Christmas cake!" Chili said.

"And we already got the Christmas décor on!" Cress spoke, trying to cool off Cilan.

"No! Here's a hint: EM-ployees of the MONTH!" the angry Grass-type specialist shouted, a little less angry this time (he's a lot angry).

"Oh! We forgot to take the picture for the e1mployees of the month!" Chili and Cress said in unison.

Cilan finally cooled off. "Good thing you guys remembered! Ok, once night rolls in, find the camera and the tripod and we all take a nice picture with us smiling."

* * *

Once night went in, with more customers going in the restaurant, the triad went in the kitchen room, trying to find the Cress's camera. But the triad had a very hard time finding it, thanks to Chili's carelessness about his Pokeballs, which means he left Pansear out of his Pokeball, which in turn, might have placed the camera somewhere else in the kitchen room.

After 5 to 10 minutes in the search, Cilan tried to serve the people as calm as possible, trying not to think about missing another day without a monthly tradition.

After almost an hour, they finally found the camera. How they found it? Chili saw his Pansear moving around the kitchen room, holding the camera, about to go in a kitchen shelf. This happened around the 40-minute mark. Then, Chili and Cress chased Pansear for around 20 minutes straight. Chili did notice, but with a lot of customers getting in, he had no time to help him. The chase finally ended with Pansear bumping in Cilan's leg, making him trip in a slow-mo way then when he crashed into the floor, the plate crashed too with the food splattering all over the floor.

"Next time Pod, better think about putting Pansear in your Pokeball first before we go to kitchen duty!" Dent said.

"What? I forget stuff sometimes!" Pod complained

* * *

"10,9,8,7,6,5,4,3,2,1….."

* * *

Cress was preparing the camera for the so-called monthly tradition; he suggested a couple of pictures then compare the pictures to reduce time. That's when they started to take pictures of themselves. Believe me, some of them were funny. In one picture, Chili was putting 'finger bunny ears' into Dent's head. In another picture, they stood like soldiers with (toy) rifles. In another one, Chili and Cilan were standing behind Cress, tricking him that he has to be the star of the picture. Then, Dent did a 'cuckoo sign' with Pod's head. However, what surprised them the most was what happened when they took the last picture.

* * *

"Ok guys, last picture before we decide which picture will be chosen for the employees of the month frame!" Cress spoke

And about the bright white light…..

"3,2,1…Say Cheese!"

**FLASH!**

Then the triad fell on the ground and slept. The customers outside the kitchen room fell dead asleep (on their food). Nearing 6:00 in the morning, the camera slides one more picture, falling slowly and solemnly to the ground. The picture was a Panpour, Pansage and a Pansear, sleeping on the neat kitchen floor, as if nothing had happened at all.


	6. Transported Through Vaccine

**CHAPTER 5:**

**Transported Through Vaccine**

"**Don't worry, I promise I will veal you…." ~The Medic**

* * *

"Water"

"Check, sir"

"Element 117"

"Check, sir"

"Dream Smoke"

"Check, sir"

"Vaccine"

"Check, sir"

"Ok, we are ready for the cure….or more like, the spreader of a nightmare! MWAHAHAHA!"

"Dude, can you just chill out? And the 'spreader' is not a good name for a vaccine."

* * *

In the Castelia City hideout of the secret organization, the man in charge, who is the first one to get in for the day, he saw the same old door. Before he went in, he hammered a sign that said "SECTOR G: ANNUAL CHECK-UP AT NOON". Good thing nobody spotted him, for it was midnight. After he hammered the sign, he went in the room.

He went to Sector G, got himself in doctor uniform, and got the vaccines in a cabinet, putting the vaccines on the chrome table. Then, he rested, waiting for the rising sun to appear in the skies, and for the rest of the organization to appear.

At around 5:45, the minor employees started to come in, and obviously noticed the sign. The minors started to ask questions to the man in charge regarding the sign on the door. With each question, differing in words, accent and language (Yes, it's an international organization), the man in charge answered: "You'll see."

By 9:30, the higher ranks started to go in. Like the employees before them, they noticed the sign, but unlike the employees, they did not question the man much.

Once noon rolled in, the employees started taking turns to have the check-up. Not much time was delayed, since it was only a minute or two then it's the next employee's turn. But, the employees are not having what they were expecting.

The last employee was up before the whole organization (except, of course, the man in charge) is rendered 'clean' [in the man's mind]. The last employee is Richard, a normal guy who needed the money. Richard had a lot of experience when it comes to check-ups including those with doctors, dentists, surgeons and people like that. However, his experience is not prepared for this check-up.

As Richard opened the clean, silver door, he saw the doctor, who is actually the man in charge.

"The last but not the least, is Richard. Come, take a seat."

The man in charge had silver-colored hair and an American face but judging what Richard heard, it was British.

"So, Mr. Richard, let's start with our first phase of the check-up: Interrogation"

"What? I mean, I didn't do anything wrong, but what does an interrogation have to do with a check-up?"

"You'll see at the end of the check-up, let's just get started"

"Question 1:What is your favorite color?"

"Blue"

Minutes later….

"Ok, we are finished with phase one. Let's go on with phase two. It's actually an inspection before you can go to phase three."

Now this is the only phase out of the three that Richard truly liked. For him, it was normal and all. The man checked for Richard's pulse rate, his breathing rate, cavities in the teeth and so on and so forth.

After that, it was time for phase three, the reason why phase one was an interrogation.

"Ok Mr. Richard, I am going to give you a shot. Not a bullet but a vaccine shot."

That's when the man stood up, went to one of the shelves and took down half a dozen packs that have an estimation of 100 vaccines each. Richard noticed that the vaccines all had the same model, color of liquid and same needle. But strangely, the man was scratching his head, pondering on what vaccine he should use.

"Mr. Boss, all the vaccines are the same, why won't you just pick-"

"Now, in this are different types of medicine, just the same color and same visualization. I memorized which vaccines are which. The reason why I have to pick one out of these many because of the answers of the questions I gave you during phase one."

Then the man finally found the one vaccine he needed (out of an exaggerating million other vaccines).

Then, Richard noticed that the vaccine was labeled "Buizel".

"Hey, are you sure you're gonna transform me with that thing!" Richard exclaimed, not wanting to suffer the same fate as the victims.

"No. See your favorite Pokemon is a Buizel, as I heard from phase one. Judging by your personality, it seemed like the complete opposite of a Buizel. I got the medicine from a place full of Buizels. That sums it up!"

"I don't understand."

"This is just medicine! Sheesh! Can't you just take the shot?"

Then Richard reluctantly took the vaccine shot; It didn't feel that painful, though. Then he waited for 30 minutes, just to check if it was some phony trick. When he realized that nothing weird happened, he thanked the man and left the check-up room.

"And just to make things fair…"The man whispered.

Then the man took one vaccine which was labeled "Luxray" and he took stabbed himself on the arm with the vaccine.

"Once the sun rises again, things will be completely fair…." The mysterious man muttered as he left the room, putting his hand over the injected spot.

* * *

In Route 203, the Pokemon station moved nearer to the cave-literally. They got the strongest Pokemon available in Route 203 (as long as they were former humans) and let them carry the station just a few meters from the cave.

Then Mark suspected that wild Pokemon (, that are naturally born Pokemon,) might attack the station and even worse, them. So Wallace hired (or more like asked) alert and watchful Pokemon to watch the station for them.

That night, the three leaders (who are Wallace, Dave and Mark,) had a conversation, now more worried about their 'school gang'.

"Mark, Dave, remember the group that we joined during our first grade? The one where we did projects together, share stuff and even go to the houses of the members of….you know!" The transformed Wallace restlessly asked his two transformed brothers.

"Oh, you mean the one that our three leaders called "Friendly Authorities"?" Dave answered with self-esteem.

"Yes, well, I was worrying about the members of the group. Since it's like the whole world turned into Pokemon, they might be in trouble." Wallace explained.

"You think it's easy to help them? They are in different regions; Kanto, Johto, Hoenn, Sinnoh, and even 3 newcomers from Unova that just joined us a few weeks ago before the transformation happened!" Mark exclaimed about what seems to be an impossibility.

However, there was a bit of hope and a bit of probability that they would be here, as Dave proclaimed, "Don't worry guys. I heard that the rest of the members booked a trip to Sinnoh a week before, to visit us because they know we will start a Pokemon journey."

"Oh great, don't think that they changed halfway through the trip, did they?" Wallace asked then sighed, hoping they don't get stranded in the middle of the sea.

* * *

2 Days Ago…

A big speedboat was in the middle of the sea…doing completely nothing, other than floating on the water. But, it's more than meets the eye, because the big speedboat actually can house 3 people,—excluding the captain—fancy food supplies, and it comes with an expensive TV, not to mention the people who had a stay there to travel only needed to buy a classy ticket to travel to someplace in the speedboat.

"Rise and Shine, crew!"

3 friends, who are part of "Friendly Authorities", woke up early, with the digital clock showing 5:13 AMm shouting its alarm sounds. They were Frank, who has a starter Treecko, William, who has a starter Mudkip, and Clive, who has a starter Torchic; all of them sleeping inside their Pokeballs, which are resting on one of the legs of the bed. They got out of their beds, just to notice everything seems a lot bigger now.

"Hey! I can't reach my camera!" Frank shouted, trying his best to grasp the now out-of-reach camera on the now out-of-reach now-very-big table, vainly noticing his new, green hands. He noted the fact that at the same time he shouted, he heard another voice which sounds like a cry of a Treecko.

"What?"

Frank started to inspect himself. He has weird, green hands and feet and also observed that he only had 3 fingers for each hand and 3 toes for each foot. He also started to look down on himself and saw a (somewhat) pink-red belly and two horizontal lines that make the lower half of his belly resemble a pouch. He turned around, saw his back and saw a green, bushy tail. Then, once he was able to climb up the wall (he didn't say anything or freaked out) he went to a computer desk and looked at himself, via monitor. The monitor was made up of high quality glass, so he was able to see himself clearly. His face was green with a big nose and big, yellow eyes with skinny pupils and something that seemed like a cut on his head.

"I'm a TREECKO!" Frank yelled in disbelief, upon seeing his new appearance; and taking a closer look at the monitor's screen, he saw a Mudkip behind him in the reflection.

"Oh great…I think he's going to give me a fight!"

"Frank, take a chill pill dude! It's just another one of your dreams again. I told you reading those books gave you nightmares!" William exclaimed who just woke up, and also immediately noticed another voice at the same time he spoke. Immediately, Frank turned around, and saw a Mudkip with William's voice.

"Or it's all just a dream!" Clive said as he tried to explain. When both William and the already-agitated Frank turned view to the floor, they saw a Torchic, but heard Clive's the threesome in Sinnoh, they had a different way of telling dreams apart from reality: Pinching

"OW!"

"OWCH!"

"OW! WISH THEY HAD ANOTHER METHOD THAT'S LESS PAINFUL!"

Every time this happened, it worked. Now, unfortunately [for them], it didn't work. William was now a _real _Mudkip, Clive was a _real_ Torchic and Frank was a _real_ TreeckoThey knew it was the real thing. Then the three had the same thought.

_It's true. I am really a Pokemon._

And then, all three shouted in shock and despair. How they would get lower in civilization,—and height—from five and six feet tall humans who can use a computer and observatories to (barely) 2 feet tall Pokemon who can't even operate a TV set properly because they're too small.

"Oh no! What if the captain sees us? Even if Sinnoh is only a few hundred meters away, he might see us as a Pokemon, maybe even cage us!" Clive spoke as he panicked and ran around the bed.

"Cage us? Are you serious?" Frank yelled at him due to his wrong idea, "He might 'catch' us, not 'cage' us!"

"Well, let's try attacking the captain!" William loudly commanded the other two.

"But then he will use his Pokemon to fight us!" Clive argued, now afraid to get hurt, especially by Water-types…he is even a bit scared of William, since he is a Water-type, but he just couldn't get afraid, or even hate him; he's his friend.

"Hey guys! We're here in Canalave City!" The captain spoke, as he can be heard getting closer and closer to their view.

"We, have to think of a plan fast!" Frank shouted in panic; all of the three knew they were pressed for time to act, to prepare, to think for the upcoming event.

"What was that Frank?" The captain asked the boy, not knowing he is not a human boy anymore; much to the dismay of the group.

"Oh no…he's a telepathic…or physic…or a parp-psy-logi-cho; whatever that word is!" William screamed in terror, thinking the captain was…all of what was said.

Then, a Pelipper flew his way in to the room. The group was confused; was this all a trick?

"Sorry for the delay guys, but I had a problem….not about the boat!" Yes, it's completely obvious that the Captain was now a Pelipper with a captain's hat on its head. Frank was at least a bit happy that they were not the only ones that changed.


	7. The Boat Is Sinking, The Boat Is Sinking

**CHAPTER 7:**

**The Boat Is Sinking, the Boat Is Sinking, Group Yourselves Into 3!**

"**Coming generations will learn equality from poverty, and love from woes." ~Khalil Gibran**

Frank was pacing around the bedroom, in panicking steps. He couldn't bear the thought of being a Pokemon. He had the desire to be an entrepreneur of a technology company, had the latest games and consoles, had roasted chicken last night and he had to shift into the lower state of the society: A Pokemon. He knew a Pokemon was exceedingly different from humans. Even if they had moves and special abilities, he couldn't continue his life normally. Because he is a Pokemon, his human hobbies and life have some limitations and even restricted from him.

Another thing to worry about is the fear of great compulsion to do something a Pokemon would usually do. He also cared about his friends and feared about the same thing to them. For example: Clive, who is now a Torchic, would have a craving for volcanoes, lava and any place where the temperature was high. Since William is now a Mudkip, he would feel the urge to go to lakes, puddles, rivers and even jump around outside when it was raining, declining William's former safety of health which used to advise him to stay indoors during the rain [, unless he has his raincoat and umbrella on]. And what will happen to Frank [the Treecko]? He would be feel the yearning to bask in the sun vitalize and revitalize once in a while. Lucky for Frank, he turned into the Pokemon that would have the least effect on his life.

Even worse, their behaviors will be [for now] permanently affected from now. Frank is content with what he has, despite his parents buying the latest stuff and gadgets available. His motto is "Be it ever so humble". His fear of bullies slightly negated his reputation at school. He is nice to neighbors who go inside his house, even for no reason. Now, he is defensive to everything he has. He wouldn't share a piece of his stuff and face enemies that are bigger than him. Frank will also be expecting William to be the easy-going guy, which is going against his former personality of being hardheaded. The same can be said for Clive. Clive used to be a very smart human and knows the answer to almost every question that's asked to him. Now, his IQ sharply lowered and that made him very curious and questioning.

He was about to go to the fourth and final thought that was so bad thinking about it that-

"Hey! Treecko guy! The rest of your friends are already on the dock! Why won't you come outside?" The Pelipper-captain said.

"Oh! I was just thinking how life will be very great now that we are Pokemon!" Frank gladly said as he tried to fake a grin.

"Okay….."

The Treecko stepped outside the boat and saw Canalave City filled with Pokemon. He looked at the flock of Starly that flew past him. Then, he saw William and Clive waving at him, and it looked like they don't want to go without him.

"Hey Frank! We might meet our friends up ahead in Jubilife City!" William cheerfully said.

* * *

**TODAY, 1:04 PM**

The Pokemon station already moved in to Oreburgh City. The three leaders hardly believed their luck. They only encountered one wild Psyduck, and although he damaged the Pokemon station lightly, the three leaders fought the Psyduck until he ran away. Then once they were at the end of the tunnel, they saw the industrial city in their sight.

"I didn't know the first gym would live under these conditions!" Dave spoke

"Well, he's a Rock-type and, fossil fuels have a relation with rocks somehow so, at least he might be turned into a Rock-type Pokemon and maybe he doesn't care!" Wallace theorized.

Once they placed the station somewhere near the cave, they met the locals that lived here. Strangely,[in their point of view] the majority of them are Rock-types and Ground-types. But after a while, it's no surprise: In the southern part of the city, Mahops and Machokes are punching through the walls, in a way that they look like they are mining.

Back at the station, after the tour of the city ended, Rock-type Pokemon joined the station, and most of the group said that they want to battle the gym leader once they're strong enough. However, the last recruits were the most interesting…

"Ok, so you Hoenn starters, what's your name?" Wallace asked them politely.

"My name is Frank, the Mudkip is William and the Torchic is Clive." The Treecko answered.

"So, welcome to the-hey wait a minute…" Mark said, as he suspected something.

"Are you a bit familiar?" Mark said to them.

"Umm….we are part of a society called "Friend Authority". 15 members in the group. 3 newbies that just joined 3 weeks ago. They came from Unova. The other twelve members From Kanto, Johto, Hoenn and Sinnoh, three each. Is that enough information for you?" Frank told Mark.

"I am not here to trick you, but I'm Mark, the Piplup is Dave and the very nice Turtwig is Wallace." Mark said.

"Heh, it's just coincidental. Give me proof that you are the real deal." Frank spoke.

"You like fishing, you obviously have a Treecko as a starter and you eat excessive amounts of ketchup! Is that proof enough for you?" Mark shouted at the surprised Treecko.

"…..well okay!"

Frank and Mark exchanged hanshakes with each other, and it would have been that easy if a Treecko would have 5 fingers instead of 3.

When the Hoenn group joined the station, Frank was standing outside the Oreburgh Gym, thinking about the fourth point.

What if their Pokemon senses start to overwhelm the mind, like the infection he learned about in zombie movies? What if they started to act more like Pokemon, and less like humans each day? How fast and how severe would this infection be? Will they still have control with their bodies when the infection completed its goal of overwhelming their brains? Or will they just be spectators of their own mind and bodies acting like a Pokemon?

What if it only seems the whole world is transformed, and some kind of evil organization didn't transform with the world and catch all the Pokemon they could see, regardless if it was Wild or a former human? What would the feeling be like inside a Pokeball? Would it be just a space of nothing or something far more?

And while he was thinking about that, someone was calling him.

"Hey Frank, the rest of the group is about to train their moves! Why won't you start training with them?" It was Wallace.

And sure enough, Frank followed Wallace all the way to the station.

* * *

Being and acting like Pokemon may be a walk in the park, but doing Pokemon moves is a lot more challenging. When Wallace tried to use Tackle on an Oran berry tree, it didn't shake that much. Not even a single Oran berry fell from the tree. Of course, practice makes perfect. After a lot of times, he finally made a few berries fall, but in turn, he damaged the trunk harshly.

Dave and Mark, on the other hand, learned the moves fast, due to the battle that took place yesterday. In all of this, Wallace didn't became jealous or anything. He would have if his old personality was kept with him during the transformation. Wallace didn't notice that until the two were finished training. He took that as a note.

Frank took training very seriously. He used William as his target. There were a few Chanseys that were part of the station, so he can play rough, as long as William doesn't get hurt severely. Frank used Absorb on the (scared) Mudkip. How they were feeling, different. For Frank, he felt power building up in his small body. For William, he felt power draining away from him, making him a bit more tired. William used Mud-slap, but it didn't affect the Treecko that much.

Then Frank used Pound. William got hit and fell down on the ground. He was trying to stand up, with his remaining energy, but he didn't have enough, and then fainted. A Chansey came to William and used a 'revive'. William did revive, but he claimed that he only had half of the energy than what he had when he started the battle.

* * *

At the same time, in Hiun City, in that same alley, in that same place, beside that same batch of trash cans, a shadow was in the alley. It was getting closer to that location, and when it got closer, it was a Luxray. Using his X-ray vision, he hit a brick with his tail, and the ground shook. Then, stairs appeared to him under the ground. Then he went down the stairs. The ground shook again, and the lights turned on. He saw a door in the end of the hallway. Since he was a bit short, he jumped and used his tail to turn the doorknob and open the door.

"Now, the black king and the white king have equal armies….."


	8. Trebuchet

**CHAPTER 7:**

**Tr****é****buchet**

"**Chess is mental torture" ~ Garry Kasparov**

**At a beginning of a chess game, both armies are equal. As the game goes on, their armies will start to become uneven, and eventually, have one of the armies lose into a checkmate. However, the black army made the first move, so how will the white army react if the king knew what the other army was planning? Normally, take immediate reaction, but in this chapter, the white army decides to play normally until he has beaten all material except the king. To make this situation even worse, there is a grey army on the third, expanded side of the chess board, and those are the gym leaders.**

* * *

The Luxray entered the circular room. Fortunately, the room is indifferent. The problem is how to operate it. The Luxray tried to operate a MP3 player, but because he has somewhat stubby paws and he was an Electric-type, he broke the MP3 player. What made it worse, was that the battery exploded, doing some minor damage…..and the battery started to leak. But it doesn't matter: the crazy genius behind the flooring system made the floor dissolve dangerous or poisonous stuff into the…..lower basement? Even the Luxray didn't know what would happen to the leak. But all that stuff, he didn't care, all he needed was the things he needed for his evil plan; despite his motives being very mysterious; besides, why did he have to change himself? His ideal view of balance is starting to take its toll on him; wouldn't he want more power than the good side?

* * *

"Hey, 2 hours before we get in our first gym!" Mark loudly proclaimed to his friends, as he hyperactively woke up from his short afternoon rest.

The sun was rising above the trees and grass. Many Pokemon are either having their leisure or doing the work that Wallace gave them to do. And after Mark woke, he skipped right to the second training session. Once again, Mark's changed personality takes the better of him. Fire-type Pokemon are not effective when it comes to attacking Rock-types, and a Chimchar is no exception, unless it evolves into a Monferno, and unfortunately, Mark didn't take note of it. And even though he will evolve eventually, it will be a long period of time (not in years) before he reaches that point. Another point to make it worse, he is focusing so much in exercising his Fire-type moves.

And it took a lot of minutes before Dave would remind him about his weakness.

"Mark! The gym leader of this city's gym is a Rock-type! Haven't you remembered? Fire-type moves don't go well with Rock-type Pokemon. It's like, you burn a hard rock under a furnace, and once you bring it out, it's even harder than before…I think."

"So what? An Infernape who has decades of experience battling a Geodude who only hatched from an egg? The winner is the Infernape!"

"That's because type effectiveness are just minor...…you know! Effects! The reason why the Infernape wins, because he has EXPERIENCE! The Geodude has NO experience! It's not gonna be the same for you and Roark! I mean, you are almost equal. If you had the same amount of experience as Roark has, Roark will have the upper hand because you have a freaking TYPE DISADVANTAGE!"

"What about Normal-type moves? I bet they have no side effects to Rock-types!"

"Well, try walking barefooted on land filled with rocks of various sizes! Normal-type moves are also ineffective against Rock Pokemon!"

"Well, I'll try to evolve before we fight! Now tell me the location of the nearest Fire Stone!"

"A POKEMON LIKE YOU DON'T EVOLVE WITH FIRE STONES! YOU HAVE TO EVOLVE BY LOTS OF-"

"QUIET!"

For a normal human, he would only hear the Turtwig cry, but for a Pokemon, Wallace's human voice was quite loud. His different, new personality sometimes made him restless and sometimes, talks loud and fast, to the point when it was considered shouting. But it was so loud; it was regarded as a shout through a microphone.

"Won't you two people be quiet? We will talk about this…..new behavior later." Wallace said, then slowly walking (with four legs) away from the group to the station, noticing that he had calmed down at a very fast rate. Wallace wants to discuss the change of character, and helping them notice the changes among the two now-starters.

* * *

The blue sky was still there when it was less than 30 minutes before their first gym battle. Training only got them a slice of the apple. Fighting a gym leader will get them half of the apple. Winning a gym leader battle will get them the whole apple. So the three leaders went somewhere behind the bushes and discussed about it.

"So, to begin this conversation, we will start about the gym leaders." Wallace spoke, as he started the meeting.

"The gym leaders are like 8 slices of pizza…."

"Wallace, are you hungry again?" Dave asked.

"Yes, that's why I got a bunch of apples beside me." Wallace said, while he (somehow) grabbed an apple and ate it.

"Ok, the gym leaders are hard to beat. The disadvantage we have is they train their Pokemon to their perfection. The advantage is, they specialize in one type. Let's say that if a gym leader specializes in Water-types, than Grass-types will make the battle easier. So, I am not trying to cheat on the gym leaders or anything, but, we have to send Dave and myself out for this gym."

"Me and you?" Dave questioned.

"Yes. Grass-types and Water-types are both effective to Rock-types while Mark here has the opposite trait." Wallace explained. The Turtwig was near to explaining the true reason for the meeting.

"And, sorry to leave you out on this Mark, but you will get beat up good if I'd let you fight Roark."

"…..It's….okay Wallace; I had that experience a few times before." Mark said, as he remembered through the times that he had to stay behind on a trip to the amusement park because he was sick, that he was left out in a school field trip because he didn't have enough money for the fees, and so on. Despite all of this, he remained calm and content through these times. And despite his new personality, a very little speck of his old personality remains inside him, yet it will be very rare that it will happen again.

"Now, I have a second topic in hand. It's something more serious. It's not a laughing matter. It's-"

"Can you just spill the beans, Turtwig?" Mark said.

Then Mark covered his mouth with his hands. He realized that he didn't call Wallace by his name. He referred to him as a 'Turtwig'. This proved what was the second topic is gonna be.

"I didn't mean to say it!" Mark protested. And then, there was silence for a short moment. Then, Wallace spoke up.

"This is the real reason why we have this meeting. Our character, personality, traits; they are now inverted upside-down. I don't know if it's coincidental or not, but it's true. I used to take kung-Fu and karate the wrong way, but now, I'm a peace lover and protective and like to speak to other people. You might think I'm just trying to act with another personality, but my Pokemon instincts are forcing me to feel feelings that I don't want to feel, to act actions that I don't want to act."

"You Mark, you used to be calm, you take time to solve problems, now you are disconcerted and it seems like everything you do has a time limit."

"Dave, you used to eat everything on the table, of course not the utensils and plates and the cups!" The threesome laughed at that statement. But Wallace quieted them down quickly.

"….and he was also easy-going. Now he thinks everything is about him, and he likes the very delicious food and shuns the vegetables and fruits and the like." Mark and Dave agreed with Wallace. They now fully realized that their personalities had turned upside-down. But that wasn't the end….

"But when you called me a Turtwig, Mister Mark, I noticed that our transformation in the brain isn't finished yet. I think we will start to have different traits. Maybe some are added to us. For example, you will start to call Pokemon by their species name, weather if it's wild or a former human. You might also have abilities like Blaze, Torrent and Overgrow. However, it might also remove some of our human traits. In the long run, you might find yourself calling me a Turtwig a lot more times than you call me by my human name. We might also lose our human traits. We might not remember our memories from our past lives, we may not call each other by our real names, we may let the instincts of a naturally born Pokemon overtake our personality and worst, we may forget that we used to be former humans." When Wallace finished the speech, he saw Mark sleeping…and drooling. So Wallace nudged him, and then Mark woke up with groaning.

"So, you thought that speech was boring. I hope you are listening because it's SERIOUS!"

Mark then became fully woke up. He recalled what Wallace said.

"Ok, you understand while sleeping…weird. Ok, we only have less than 10 minutes before we battle Roark."

Then, that's when they started training….the last before they battle their first gym leader.

* * *

The second Pokemon to come inside the hideout….or more like fly inside, was an Emolga. She was the assistant of the man in charge. She was happy that she could fly. But more severe matters were on her head now.

"ARE YOU CRAZY! WHY DID YOU TRANSFORM US INTO POKEMON WITH A CHECK-UP!"

The Luxray stared at Emolga with a malicious look, and said "….I did this…so that both armies have equal armies."

"BUT YOU COULD HAVE JUST….YOU KNOW, DIDN'T DO THAT AND CAPTURE ALL THE POKEMON! THIS COULD HAVE BEEN A WALK IN THE PARK IF YOU DIDN'T DO THIS TO US! I KNOW I LIKE TO BE AN EMOLGA, BUT SOMETIMES, I THINK YOU ARE INSANE!"

"…..I will be remembered not for winning, but for winning with experience. And to gain experience, you must gain some, and lose some too, like our human forms…" The Luxray coldly replied.

"BUT HOW WE WILL OPERATE THIS MISSION IF WE DON'T HAVE PROPER HAND? SOME OF US HAVE PAWS, SOME OF THEM HAVE CLAWS, SOME OF THEM WALK WITH 4 LEGS, AND SOME OF THEM DON'T HAVE ANY LIMBS OR ANYTHING!"

"Oh…."


	9. Interlude

**P.S. What may look like wrong grammar here is actually the work of Microsoft 2010 Grammar Checker.**

**Chapter 8:**

**Interlude**

"_A soldier will fight long and hard for a bit of colored ribbon" ~Napoleon Bonaparte_

_

* * *

_

**2:07 PM**

The Luxray got pretty annoyed, partly because of the Emonga screams and partly because he wasn't thinking about the situation yesterday. Back there, he was thinking about the main effect. He completely ignored the side effects, possibly scoffing the fact that there will be side effects. He was so distressed that he would turn some of his workers and co-workers into Pokemon that don't have 5 fingers, can't operate complicated equipment, heck, not even a TV remote if things get worse. He even got himself in a bad situation, since Luxrays only have paws with 3 somewhat stubby fingers. Worse still, he can't stand properly; he can only walk on 4 legs, or what he prefers as, on 2 hands and on 2 legs.

The mini-nightmare didn't end there; the most unpleasant feature of him is that Luxrays are Electric-type. He could accidentally electrocute the computer systems, thus ending the transformed lives the rest of the world is bearing, reverting back to their old lives. Yes, the machines still had to be on for the processes that keep the human population being a Pokemon to work for a long time. And to double the trouble, most Emongas are cheerful and reckless and they are Electric-Flying-types, so if the Emonga goes crazy about, an even bigger problem will present. The Luxray knew full steam that if he, Emonga or both of them would electrocute the systems out of the blue, his dream would be ruined, even if it was not completed, which sadly for him, it isn't done. Turning all the humans into Pokemon was the first phase of his plan…..

* * *

**2:16 PM**

"I didn't know Roark's gym would be this big." Mark murmured.

At their perspective, the building looks very big. The glass door looks very enormous. Using any of their moves to open the door would be illogical. Of course, it's from their perspective. If they were human now, the door would only be a few inches higher than them.

"So how do we get inside the gym? We are like ants trying to open a door!" Dave shouted.

"Please Dave; it's not that hard to open a door." Wallace said.

Wallace pushed the door but to his dismay, it didn't budge through. He tried pushing it a little harder, but alas, no avail. Then after a few moments, he is struggling to get the door open at least a few inches or so. But it's not the worst to come yet, because a raindrop fell on Wallace.

"Oh no…"

The raindrops started to drizzle around the city and after a few seconds, it turned into ordinary rain. And rain is made up of water, and because their Pokemon instincts will trigger when the situation seems to activate those traits, Dave is starting to twitch. Wallace took serious notice about this. He's afraid that the combination of Dave being a Piplup, the addition of Pokemon instincts and the fact that it's raining over the city, will make Dave act like a Piplup, and Wallace is hoping that he's gonna act like one for only a short time.

The circumstances are starting to get a whole lot worse, as Dave starts to say full Pokemon speech and the other two couldn't understand him. Then the worst happened: Dave starts to jump around the city with the rain and skipping around and being jolly….without notice that he's actually doing of all those stuff. Wallace feared this would happen. Then, he figured out that he and Mark will be affected soon. Normally, what come after the rain are the glowing sun, and possibly a rainbow. Plants need water AND sunlight to grow well and the sun is a big ball of fire, and Grass-types are related to plants and Fire-types are related to….fire, it'll be double trouble for the three leaders. And just like going through some taboo ritual in native countries, Wallace and maybe Mark are hoping that the rain will be over soon, so they will get over their soon-to-be temporary loss of control faster. And their-

"WALLACE! Come here and look!" It was Frank shouting at them.

Frank was running to the threesome's location, and saw the one of them, specifically Dave, was missing.

"Where is Dave?" Frank asked.

"Well, if William is hopping around the place like he's a happy zombie, then you should know where Dave is." Mark answered, slowly going to a nearby canopy, due to the rain hurting him.

"Oh great, not him too!" Frank sorely said.

"Okay, we'll come to your place just to see what the problem is. And most likely we can't fix it." Wallace told him.

Frank led them into Route 207. Frank explained that he and his friends wanted to find some berries on the route. When it rained, William was near some muddy puddles and, with the blend of rain and the puddles, William let his guard down and let his Mudkip-self gone wild. It was easy to explain for Frank but letting Wallace and Mark see William dance like a no-brainer is already enough. But by then, the rain stopped pouring.

"Uh oh." The Grass-types and Fire-types muttered in unison. It was _their_ time…to go out of their control.

Then things started to happen quickly. Mark and Clive started to dance around the tall grass in the route. After that, Frank and Wallace started to rest on the branches of a nearby tree, with Wallace having difficulty to rest due to his weight. The Fire-types were making turmoil in the grass, and shortly after, Clive spit out fire from his beak, which created a chain of events. A few of the 'fireballs' made contact with the grass. Sorry to say, all the 'fireballs' made contact with grass. Then, the grass started to burn and that's when, what they considered 'mind control', to disappear. The four Pokemon took action...by running away from the burning grass. From a perspective of a normal teenager, or maybe even a pre-teen, it would've been expected that the fire would burn up quickly due to its very small size, but since these Pokemon are hardly two feet tall, they did everything to evade the fire and warn William and Dave about the fire, so at least they could minimize the danger of the fire. Lucky for them, William and Dave's 'mind control' also disappeared from them, just realizing what they just did.

The quartet shouted "DAVE! WILLIAM!"

"WHAT IS IT!" The duo yelled back in unison.

Clive shouted dumbfounded "THERE IS A BIG FIRE! IT'S TWELVE STORIES TALL, AND IT HAS A HUGE MOUTH AND BIG RED EYES AND-"

"Stop that Clive, you are exaggerating the facts!" Frank interrupted

"Well there's a medium-sized fire that Mr. Clumsy-Fire-Pants-Beaker caused by puking fireballs into the grass" Mark clarified, slowly facing Clive.

"What! It's not that I really puked. It was my foreign instincts!" Clive tried to correctly explain.

"Yeah foreign, like you're from China!" Mark said back at him.

"Hey, I guess you're-"

"STOP! We are already 10 minutes late at battling the gym leader. Arguing would just delay things more. Now can we just go in the gym?" Wallace spoke to the crowd of Pokemon. That's when the tension shattered completely. Then they went into the gym.

* * *

The interior of a gym is mostly made out of rock. It would have been an amazing feat, if they were living in the early Roman Empire years. And it looks like more of a big hallway than a normal building, considering the width and length of the building, unless Palkia was involved with it. There are two ways to go to the end of the hallway, both by stairs. The first one was the staircase to the left. Then one right turn then cross over an overpass bridge, then left then another staircase then another bridge and so on. The other one was straightforward…literally. There are stairs that just lead straight to the end of the hallway, with no obstacles or anything above ordinary.

At the end of the hallway was a plain rocky floor. On it was a wooden board. On it was a miner's hat with a light, eyeglasses, and a Cranidos. The Cranidos was leaning on the wall with his eyes closed.

"Ok….maybe he got bored of gym battles?" William asked.

"How can he get bored of gym battles? They are exciting! Maybe something else…." Frank said.

"Maybe he's sick." Mark suggested.

"If he was sick, he would've closed the gym 'till he's fine." Wallace spoke.

"Maybe he's just relaxing. We can ask him to have a gym battle anyway." Dave said.

"But everyone just got turned into a Pokemon. The League might have changed rules into battling a gym leader. I mean, how can we substitute Pokemon, if we ARE THE POKEMON?" Clive nosily shouted at the crowd.

After that, they heard a yawn. The Cranidos was waking up. They were horrified that they might get kicked out of the gym. They weren't afraid too much or too little. Just plain afraid. Then when the Cranidos opened its eyes, it said something, with a groan:

"What are you doing here?"

Dave pointed at the Cranidos and shouted "I want to challenge you to a gym battle!"

The Cranidos was now fully energized with the words 'gym battle'. Since the day the planet's whole population seemed to be converted into Pokemon, most of the gyms in Sinnoh, including this gym, weren't getting any challengers at all. He was thrilled to at least have one challenger in his new body.

"So, you want a challenge eh? The game has changed Mister Piplup. You see, the Pokemon league now told us, gym leaders, that only 2 Pokemon can battle one gym leader, one should be the main Pokemon, the other, kind of like a backup Pokemon. Good thing gyms are placed in locations where Pokemon Centers are nearby. So if you want to challenge me, choose your substitute!" The Cranidos [complexly] spoke.

"Umm…I choose Mark." Dave replied.

Mark was surprised. He was expecting for him to choose Wallace, but Dave knew his feelings during the meeting. He didn't want Mark to feel alone one more time. One time he was left out, he almost chose to rebel against his family. Now he felt hope not to be in rage again, thinking about the damage he had done back in Jubilife City.

"Ok, what's your name?" The Cranidos asked.

"My name is Dave, and the Chimchar is Mark. Now what's yours?" Dave asked.

"My name? You should know by now. It's Roark. "

"Now that you wanted to challenge me, let's begin to battle!"


	10. Misinterpretation

**Chapter 9:**

**Misinterpretation**

_"Don't be afraid to give up the good to go for the great." ~John D. Rockfeller_

Back at the Pokemon station, it's already a block away from the Oreburgh Gym. Even some temporary, primitive houses are built beside the gym. And who is substituting for the 3 leaders? Not the Hoenn trio, but Nicolas. Yes, Nicolas only. You might think it's killjoy for him, including the fact that he is only a SHINX. And, most of the time, he's not serious. He just wants to have fun all the time with the clan. He doesn't know how to use most of his electric moves. But surprisingly, he's doing a good job and he's good, if not better, as Wallace, Dave and Mark.

You see, before the transformation, he liked the cyber world, and hated books, not to mention that he created a book-hating fan club. But due to the condition of reversing the personalities plus traits, he is like, addicted to books. On the first day of transformation, while Nicolas is trying to make friends, or maybe even finding old ones, he found a human bag. One of his current traits is discovering the outdoors and the unexplored places, so Nicolas 'explored' the bag and found a book. The book is "Leading Staff". The book is about being a great leader. The setback here is that the "Leading Staff" is for modernized human companies, not for primitive Pokemon stations and tribes. But, he's pretty resourceful. For example, in the chapter for managing money, he replaced the human coins and banknotes with chopped wood. You might think it's a bad money idea, considering the security of the environment, but leave it to the other members of the station who can plant seeds and make the plant grow faster.

And Nicolas was a kind-hearted guy, a little bit more kind-hearted than the six who went off to the gym. He made orders and commands in a nice way. And the best of all, he gives them berries as a reward if they complete a task properly. So far, progress is going well, but one problem will put his leadership to the test.

* * *

Back at the gym, they agreed on the challenge. Then the battle started. It started very intensively. Dave used Bubble on Roark. When Dave used Bubble, he felt his inner body build up something. Then it started to push up to his throat. That's when he felt something molding inside, and…he spit out many bubbles …

…And the bubbles were heading for Roark. Roark tried to dodge it, but the bubbles were too fast for him. The bubbles hit and damaged Roark. It hurt even more when Roark realized Dave was at an advantage: Water-types are super effective against Rock-types. Then Roark countered it with Headbutt. Good thing for him; it's a normal type move.

"Ouch! That hurts man!"

"But Dave, you're a Pokemon now. You're _supposed_ to feel that you're hurt from the attacks. If you were a trainer now, you wouldn't feel the pain of your Pokemon. But, obviously, you are one now." Roark explained as he was going back to his initial position.

"Well, okay. I admit it's fun to be a Pokemon, but you have-"

"Hey Dave, it's your turn! What will be your move?" Roark interrupted, signifying his newfound impatience.

"Well, looks like your personality changed too!" Dave exclaimed.

"MOVE ON!" Roark shouted at Dave.

"Oh no! We ran out of food!" A Kricketot yelled.

Nicolas took notice of the situation. He knew that a whole station of Pokemon, who were former humans, are getting starved from the….starvation. He knew that he had to take action fast. He has two options: Take the risky choice and go up North in Route 207, or take the more time-consuming choice and go back a few hundred meters (for them) to Route 203 via Oreburgh Gate. Nicolas took time to decide. Then, he made a decision: Route 207.

He realized that his choice will probably make him encounter more dangerous wild, naturally-born Pokemon. That will produce more risk and chaos, but like what he read in the book, "It's worth the risk". There might be a lot of problems in taking Route 207 just to get a few (dozens) of berries that will fill everyone's tummy….assuming they have one.

"I will use Water Sport!" Dave said as he gushed out water from his beak. The feeling is almost the same when he used Bubble, except it didn't feel weird or anything when it came near the throat. Dave thought it would be very effective in the long run, but it didn't.

"Dave, Water Sport only wakens Fire-type Pokemon, not Rock-types." Roark clarified on Dave's mistake.

"Oh, I knew that!"

"No, you do not!" Roark shouted, as he charged to Dave with another painful Headbutt.

"Ugh! Can you use any another move?" Dave complained.

"Sorry, the only move I'm effective in." Roark spoke, with a little chuckle, as he backed away to his starting place.

"So if that's what you want" Dave said, as he prepares for his Bubble move "then it's what you get!" Then Dave expelled the power-filled bubbles from his beak. The bubbles then hit Roark. Then Roark now has half of his power stored in himself left. But, he has one last trick up on his sleeve.

"I'm….gonna take….DOWN!" Roark yelled. Then, Roark ran as fast as he can, with his head on the front, like a 'Headbutt', but this time, he used some of his power to increase the power of his 'Headbutt'. Then, he hit Dave head-on. The sad thing is, Dave is almost at the point of fainting.

"Wow, that's a pretty good move for Roark!" Frank said in amazement.

"Oh great, I took this a bit too far, I think. I think it's time for a substitute." Roark suggested, slowly facing Mark.

Mark now has two emotions mixed up together; he has the fear that he will lose great effort and faint also, but he also has confidence and the will to fight a gym leader. _Now this is my chance to fight the gym leader! I have to give it all I got! _

Then Mark stepped on the vast fighting mat. "I'm ready to challenge you!"

* * *

Nicolas was just fighting a wild Meditite. He was sure it's a wild Pokemon, since it didn't ask if Nicolas used to be a human and all that. Everyone else in the station kept a safe distance away from the fight, lest they want to get hurt in the process.

"You are not gonna take any of my berries!" the Meditite spoke, as she defended her berries with her Hidden Power. Then, green orbs flew out from her body, going in directions anyone could imagine. Everyone tried their best to dodge the green orbs. Then all the green orbs went straight to Nicolas. The green orbs charged to Nicolas like a heat-seeking missile, for Nicolas can't chase them out of his tail.

"Aaaaaaaauugh!"

As the green orbs hit him and as Nicolas fell to the ground, most of the station's members gasped in horror. They thought Nicolas was down for the count. But they overlooked that; the fight just started. It was a short while of silence before Nicolas started to twitch, then he slowly stood up (with four legs). Then Nicolas saw the Meditite happily floating around the area, thinking that he fainted.

"Fizzle…and" the Shinx slowly spoke as he was quickly recovering, with sparks of electricity pulsing around his body, as yellow aura surrounds him. He ran on his four feet at top speed and…"…POP!" struck the Meditite. It fell down on the ground, as he was losing concentration. It stood up, and turned around and saw Nicolas, full of energy.

"Ugh! And I thought you were a foolish Pokemon!" It shouted.

* * *

"Take this!"

Mark taunted whilst he was rolling around in air as a ball of fire, AKA Flame Wheel, at Roark. But it's a type-disadvantage; it was Fire-type against a Rock-type. When the Flame Wheel made contact with Roark, he only took minimum damage. And by the looks of it, it's like he hadn't be scorched at all.

"Hah! I can take that! But can you survive this?" Roark taunted back as he charged on to Mark head-on. Unfortunately for him, Mark dodged it. This made Roark Headbutt his own wall.

"Roark, it's more like "Can my wall survive this?" Hahaha!" Mark sneered at him. To make things more embarrassing for him, his dome-shaped cranium is stuck to the wall.

"Oh, this is humiliating." Roark muttered to himself, as he was trying to pull his cranium out of the wall. After a while, it did.

"Man that took a while. Now it's my turn!"

Mark jumped high up and used Ember. He felt something very warm in his stomach, and then the warmness started to transfer upwards to his throat. At the throat, he felt the warmness split, then when it reached the mouth, he spit out balls of fire right at the direction of Roark, who was running away from the fireballs. Then the fireballs struck Roark.

* * *

The fight at Route 207 was still going on. The Meditite quickly thought of a way to counterattack the Spark. With the Meditite now with half of his strength left, he used whatever means to faint the Shinx.

"Concentrate on this!"

The Meditite used Confusion on him. Its eyes shift into a purple tint, and Nicolas was surrounded in purple aura. Meditite flung Nicolas to a nearby rock. Nicolas fell face-flat on the ground. Then he slowly got up.

"Alright, I've had enough of this, wild Meditite!" Nicolas said whilst walking to it.

"Wait, wild? I am not wild! Please I beg of you!"

"Wait, what? You're not wild?" Nicolas asked.

"Yes I am NOT wild!" The Meditite loudly replied back.

"So, did you used to someone else's Pokemon?"

"No! You see, I started my journey a few days ago, then the day before I got transformed-"

"Wait. You used to be a normal guy?" Nicolas asked. He didn't realize that after a few seconds later, he'll regret saying that; because the Meditite used Confusion again and flung him to another nearby rock.

"I think the correct term here is not 'guy' but 'girl'." The Meditite spoke.

"Okay, you're a girl!" Nicolas said, with his face in the rock. After falling off the rock and stood up, he tried to talk with the Meditite.

"So you used to be a normal _girl_?" Nicolas asked again.

Thus, the Meditite explained "Yes. Okay, let's continue; then the day before I got transformed, I caught this Meditite on this same route. I realized it's gonna be a good charm on the long run. Then when I woke up yesterday, I realized I became a Meditite. At first I was very angry and confused, that I distorted almost every law of physics and gravity and science in my bedroom! But of course, after a while, I took all this information in, then I wonder how I'm gonna continue my Pokemon journey."

"Wow, that's hardcore. And about your journey, my friends are already fighting Roark at this moment!"

* * *

"Stand still, you little fire monkey!"

Roark was already resorting to repetitive use of Headbutt. But that strategy has its own problems; Mark dodged it almost every time.

"C'mon Roark, it's not that hard to hit me with your head!"

The Cranidos finally lost his temper. He shouted in rage, and charged Mark at full speed. And before Mark knew it, he was doing Take Down. Roark struck Mark with unforgiving rage. Mark was flung to the wall and fell down. It looked like Mark was not going to make it. But, Mark looked like he just twitched. Then Mark slowly opened his eyes and stood up. He looked kind of beat up.

"I and my friends trained too hard for too long! Why won't you just give in?" Mark yelled mercilessly at Roark. Then he turned into a ball of fire again. Mark then hit Roark with indescribable damage. After a few seconds, Roark twitched then stood up. But it was bad news; Roark looked more beat up than Mark and it looked like that any moment now, he was gonna faint. But Roark raised his paw.

Roark then lowered his hand, went somewhere under the stairs, opened a secret rocky chamber, went inside, and once he got back, he was holding a badge. "I hold up the white flag Mark. You and Dave did inconsiderable damage to me. It looks like I'm about to pass out. Of course I won't be dead, but just a short coma. Good thing there's a Pokemon Center nearby. Now Mark, I will give you the Coal Badge. If any other trainer trades Pokemon with you-wait. That's not going to work. We _are_ the Pokemon. I mean we are the Pokemon, aren't we?"

"Yeah. Looks like we won our first badge, haven't we?" Mark said to his group mates. Everyone nodded in agreement.

At that moment, the door opened. It was Nicolas and a Meditite. And from the looks of their faces, they might've been shocked about Roark.

"What happen? Did you win?" Nicolas asked Mark.

"Yes, although Dave, me and Roark had to take a serious price to get the badge." Mark spoke.

"But, it's only the first badge!" Nicolas complained.

"Well, maybe we underestimated him." Mark explained.

"Who's he?" The Meditite asked Nicolas, pointing to Mark.

"Oh, I forgot to tell you Mark. This Meditite here is Anne. She is also a transformed Pokemon."

"Hi!" Anne said sheepishly.

"Well, nice to meet you!" Mark greeted back. "Well all's well end's well guys. C'mon, we still have seven more gyms to go!"

"WHAT! Seven more gym battles to go! But I almost fainted! And besides, if this is the first gym, then who knows how hard the second one will be!" Dave complained.

"No worries, I already assigned you and William to fight the second gym." Wallace stated.

"Yippee!" William said joyously.

"Well, there goes William's seriousness." Frank said to himself.

The gang exited the gym, but not without waving Roark a goodbye. And Wallace checked Nicolas's progress as a substitute leader. He noticed that everyone was still eating their berries. Nicolas explained about his fight with Anne, initially thinking she was a wild Pokemon. After that, he stated that after she realized she wouldn't steal berries, but to use them to feed the station. Anne agreed with that. And when Wallace heard all of it, he was pretty surprised, in spite the fact that he only issued him as a substitute. Then after a few days, the station moved to the lower part of Route 204, as part of trying to reach the second gym. But, they get their progress gets delayed when they discover that a cave needs to be passed before they reach Floaroma Town…


	11. Power Struggle

**Chapter 10:**

**Power Struggle**

"_As citizens, we all have an obligation to intervene and become involved - it's the citizen who changes things." ~ Jose Saramago_

_

* * *

_

At Castelia City, known by most of the natives as Hiun City, somewhere in the alleys, more like under the alleys, a secret organization was having a fight in their secret hideout. It was between the group's leader, who is a Luxray, and three elemental monkeys, Panpour, Pansear and Pansage, who happen to be the three gym leaders of Sanyou City. Their names are Corn, Pod and Dent, respectively. They were trying to find Arty for some answers about the transformation, when they were in the alley and Pod was a bit bored, even if they are close to the gym. That's when Pod used the move Devastate. Well, he used it on a brick wall and happened to hit the brick wall that triggers the stairs. They all noticed the ground rumbled, and a pair of stairs appeared.

"Wow! I didn't know Devastate can also make stairs!" Pod exclaimed

"It doesn't! But maybe this is a secret path to Arty's gym" Dent theorized.

They went down the stairs, the stairs rumbled back to a floor-like state but from their view, it turned into a brick wall. It was a long hallway. The only source of light in the hallway was a light bulb on the ceiling at the end of the hallway. Once they walked closer to it, they saw that a door was at the end. Once they reached the other side, they tried to open the door. But to their dismay, they were too small.

"Aw man! How are we gonna reach the knob if it's way up there?" Pod complained.

Silence ensued for a short while. But it was gone when Dent had an idea.

"Hey guys, I have an idea. Maybe if we can stack ourselves like a tower and the one who is on the top can reach the doorknob! It can work!"

The other two stared at him as if he suggested something…smart. They went with the idea: Dent on the bottom, Corn on the middle and that leaves Pod reaching for the doorknob. For a few seconds, it went ok, but after that, not so much.

"What did you eat Pod? You're as heavy as a cement truck!"

"Uhh…nighttime specials?"

"So you were the one who's been our wolfing meals lately! And I thought it was my Pansage who was eating them!"

"So what! I got hungry!"

In all this chaos and confusion, the totem pole of monkeys started to sway. Dent tried to balance the stack, while Pod and Corn tried to keep their balance. After a few more sways, it looked like it was about to fall over. Then somehow, in slow-motion, Pod held on to the doorknob, turned it, and then fell to the floor. However, it only happened behind the midst of noise and fear, so even Pod didn't notice that he turned the doorknob.

When Pod and Corn fell to the floor face-flat, the door slowly opened. After Dent stood up, he saw something he would see if he was a secret agent or something. Big screens showing rooms of every building in the city were everywhere, a now-yellow holographic symbol in the middle of a circular room and security cameras watching the room like a patrolling Noctowl. Inside the room are a Luxray and an Emonga. And from the looks of it, the Luxray just got a whole lot more stressed.

"Who are you?" The Luxray shouted.

"Hey! You're supposed to know who we are!" Pod yelled back at the Luxray, looking as mad as the other two.

"Oh yeah, right. Gym Leaders of Shippou City, aren't you? Dent, Pod and Corn; no need for introductions. Now how and why are you here?"

"Well, we just wanted to go to Arty's gym. So just wondering, did you know you got transformed?" Dent spoke.

"Of course, obviously. In fact, I was the one who made everyone change." The Luxray commented. Unfortunately, his proud personality made him said the last statement, putting the three monkeys in a shock.

"So…you're the one who made everyone transform?" Corn anxiously said.

"Yes…" The Luxray said darkly.

"But…why? How can you do this?" Dent angrily spoke to him.

"That's a secret, but if you want to know some aftereffects, how about this!"

The Luxray used Discharge on all three of them. All three got hurt in the process, but it's not enough to render them useless to battle,yet.

* * *

As the morning sun started to rise and shine above the hills, it starts to illuminate Route 204, which happens to be where the Pokemon Station the trio of brothers started up back at Jubilife City. With the addition of three mutual friends, the events of the Pokemon station starts to get a little interesting.

When Wallace woke up, he started to notice something out of place. Because of his new form, he has to sleep standing up (on all fours), which means, he will be tempted to lie down, but he's trying his best not to. Why? Most of the weight goes into the shell, so if he lies down, it would be next to impossible to stand up again. He was expecting to see the barks of trees, grass, flowers and his changed brothers and friends. But what he saw was branches of leaves and the sky. He tried to get up but to no avail. He then realized what he's in to: He got stuck.

He shouted for help, which sounded like a Turtwig cry and a human shout being heard at the same time. At that time, Wallace started to notice a second thing out of place: his human voice started to sound a bit higher and a bit raspier. He thought it was an audial hallucination. But he was wrong; when the group started to approach him, their voices also sounded a bit different, with all of their voices sounding a bit higher than usual, with very minor audial effects to their voices if the Pokemon they are in have audial effects for their cry. That's when it hit him: The transformation is _not complete._ Yesterday, his human voice was normal. Now, it's starting to would've also noticed it earlier if he had noticed the increased usage and noticeability of their new personality, even his.

When the group of friends and brothers finally reached him, they saw Wallace with the shell nearest to the ground instead of his own body, plus he's upside down. They looked at him struggling to get up.

"What happened to you?" Mark said to Wallace, wanting to make sure he is alright. Wallace noticed right off the bat that Mark's voice sounded more like a Chimchar's. He wasn't sure if he had the guts to tell him that yet but he kept telling himself (in his mind) to tell it to him and everyone else very soon.

"I'm fine. Just help me get up."

And so, everyone did their best to carry Wallace back to his feet. But of course, they didn't get him up for the first few moments, or even lifted him a single inch to begin with. After a while, they it started to get seedy.

"What…did….you...eat last night Wallace?" Frank complained.

After that statement, Wallace started to get a bit afraid. Not the statement, but how fast things were changing. Frank's grunts were replaced by sounds like "Tree...treecko!" He also observed this in the others. Wallace was afraid that if the transformations kept going at this rate, he theorized that they would lose their humanity in mere weeks.

"Oran berries. Just Oran berries."

Frank thought it was a very bad excuse, even though he really ate only Oran berries. So he decided to deflect the excuse back to him.

"Maybe you ate way too many." Frank said back.

Frank began to discern about something with his voice. He perceived that his voice started to shift into a bit higher pitch and more hoarse than before; like a _Treecko's._ His grunts were also replaced with the word "Treecko" and "Tree". He didn't want to talk about it yet.

He started to focus back to putting Wallace back on his four feet. Frank and the others did their best to push and lift Wallace but to no avail. They tried pushing harder, beyond their limits, but still no. They even constructed a primitive version of a pulley. Well it did lift him 2 or 3 inches but that still didn't do. That's when William did something pretty out of the blue.

William spewed out water at Wallace. In fact, he spewed out so much water; it would fill 10 big water tanks. Wallace got the extra force he needed and used all of his own strength in combination of the force from William's water gun to lift himself back to his feet. Once the situation seems okay, Frank told Wallace he needs to talk about something. So both of them headed to some place not too far away from the station but not too near to the cave, for they fear a wild Pokemon might just jump out of the entrance and attack both of them and possibly the station. Then, they chose a place over a white fence not too far away from the station. It also had a small lake there with a few, big trees that can shade them. They both decided for that place, then they secretly and silently walked there so the others won't see them.

After going over the fence, they stopped on a nearby tree. That's when the conversation began.

"Wallace, did you notice some post-effects?"

"What do you mean 'post-effects"

"Well, all of our voices got a little adjustment. And by little adjustment, I mean THEIR STARTING TO SOUND LIKE A POKEMON'S VOICE!"

"Shhh, be quiet! You said this was gonna be a private conversation!"

"Oh. Sorry. Well I was saying, I think the transformation is not complete."

"Well, coincidental or not, I was thinking of the same thing."

"You did?"

"I was planning to talk to you in a similar manner. And now we both now it's not complete, everyone else doesn't know about it."

"Well, what are the outcomes if we do something about it and the outcomes if we don't do something about it?"

"Well…."

* * *

The fight was still going strong, with both sides even. Well actually, it's an uneven battle. 3 Vs. 1. And if such a battle would be legal, as the law says, then the team that has 3 Pokemon has to switch turns. Now, it was Corn's turn. Using Water Gun, he did a somewhat significant amount of damage to the Luxray.

"So you want a real fight? I'll give you a fight!"

The Luxray started inflicting electrical sparks and discharges all over the room, greatly damaging the elemental monkeys. Good thing the wires and electrical generators are safe; they were made out of rubber. The monkeys are on the brink of survival, and the chances of surviving one more hit are very slim. The Luxray started to walk to them, cornering the threesome to the wall.

"Well, like they say, some things in life are inevitable." The Luxray darkly said.

The Luxray pushed a nearby button, and a trapdoor opened up on the monkeys. And they fell down on some pipe.

"That's one less loose ends, ain't that right Emonga?"

"Umm…what's a loose end?"

* * *

"…if we do something about it, our voices might still continue to change until it has the accent of a true Pokemon, but our minds won't be scrambles, or like, human memory loss or something on those lines. And there won't be any Pokemon memory that will be shoved in our minds all of a sudden. But if we don't do anything about it, the voice will, of course, continue to change completely, but our minds will be like brainwashed or something, and we'll have no idea we are living a lie."

"So, for a better outcome, we should choose to do something about it, right?"

"Right."

"There's one problem. How are we going to tell this to the others?"

"We'll have a staff meeting tonight, if we can push through Route 204."

As the secret conversation ended, the duo got back to the station, acting as if they never had the conversation at all.

At the entrance of the dark cave, Nicolas and Anne stand in awe of the size of the cave. Now that they're small, it looks very big in their perspective. With it's very giant size, Nicolas had one thing to say:

"So…ever heard of the story of a Shinx and a Meditite getting lost in a very dark cave?"


	12. Run To the Hills

**Chapter 11:  
**

**Run To the Hills**

"_Go big or go home. Because it's true. What do you have to lose?" ~Eliza Dushku_

_

* * *

_

"I suggest you go first."

"No you go first!"

"No, you experienced a bigger problem before! So go first!"

"Well, after that fight earlier, you should be the one who goes first!"

With the ruckus Nicolas and Anne they are making under the almost pitch black darkness, it's taking forever for them to take foot (or paw) in the cave. It would have been a smart choice if they would argue about when the sun was still there. Why? In the midst of the commotion, they didn't notice a 2 dark blue claws stretching out from the cave. In time, they noticed the claws. And they both shouted "LOOK!"

But it was too late. The claws grabbed both of them, snatching them away from sight.

* * *

The blazing sun starts to come up the hills…again. With irregular shapes of shadows formed by the trees, tasty Pokemon berries in all its abundance, the surrounding lakes containing fresh, unpolluted water and unique plants growing everywhere, you might think it's a good day to continue the lengthy journey as a trainer. It's even better to just relax, take a sip of water and eat some berries as a Pokemon. But today is not vacation day.

In the Pokemon station, a lot of past-humans-that-are-now-Pokemon are training hard for any kind of battle of any kind. Many want to battle the gym leader and get gym badges, despite having nowhere proper to keep the badges. But just like every city, they have a leader. In fact, they have three leaders and three co-leaders. But where are they? They are having a private meeting discussing the matters and possibilities of a continuing transformation in them.

In one big circular spot in the forest, 6 former humans were sitting down on separate logs for each, discussing a topic that will probably bother them in the long run. And with Wallace starting;

"So, I and Frank have discussed something last night, and I think you won't like it. You are still transforming. Of course, it might look like it's complete, but it isn't. Your voices are starting to change into a higher pitch every day. I mean, your human voices are starting to sound like a Pokemon's. Now, any statements about that?"

With everyone almost shuddering with fear, no one raised his hand. Then the topic was passed to Frank.

"Both of us also noticed that our new personalities are starting to intensify and our new instincts are tempting us harder than before. With Dave starting to be picky when it comes to food, Mark being impatient, William being a happy-go-lucky guy, Wallace going from Karate-anger guy to a peace-loving guy, don't you see?"

With everyone except Wallace and Frank whispering and murmuring among each other, it looks like they had to start thinking about it seriously. With more fear showing in their eyes, the meeting was starting to be more like a nightmare.

It became worse when bad news came in.

"Where's Nicolas and Anne!"

The shout was so loud, even the leaders and co-leaders overheard it.

"That's it. Meeting is temporarily discontinued." Wallace worriedly said.

With the group of leaders running out of the forest as fast as their feet (or paws) can, they reached the station in no time. A Chatot named Mackie, who was the 'watcher' of the station, was flying to them at top speed. In fact, he didn't see clearly at this very high speed, when everything was a blur, so he hit Mark in the head, making him fall to the ground.

"Oh, I'm sorry! I didn't mean to hurt you!" was all that Mackie said.

Mark was rubbing his forehead as if he had a minor headache, which he did. When Mark stood up and opened his eyes, he saw Mackie flying right there. Misunderstanding the cause, he used Flame Wheel on Mackie. With the Mackie trying to dodge it with his flying skills, he dodges most of his attempts on Flame Wheel. But at his last attempt, Mark hit Mackie hard. With Mackie already coughing at this point, Mark was ready to inflict with Scratch, but in the nick of time, Dave used Water Gun on him, pushing him away from Mackie.

Dave tried his best to explain the situation.

"Mark, what are you doing! He was appointed as someone who watches over our station and he did a good job, and you just do that to him all of one bungling mistake?"

"But he hit me very hard!"

"But it was accidental!"

Good thing it was less than a week after transformation because if it was, he would have used Flame Wheel on Dave, not observing the fact that it would be a type-disadvantage. What really happened is that they kept on arguing in front of the rest including Mackie. That's when Wallace stepped in.

"Stop! Don't you realize what you're getting in to? The arguments are starting to get more frequent by the hour guys. Besides, we haven't heard Mackie's message yet, or if he even had one!"

They still kept on arguing on each other. That's when it started to get physical. Wallace used Razor Leaf on both of them. And with the wounds both of them got, that was enough to make them think he was serious.

"Come on guys! Stop it! Let's see what Mackie has to say!"

With the argument disintegrated, the leaders had ears on what Mackie has to say.

"Nicolas and Anne are not present!"

That one single message was enough to shock all six. Nicolas and Anne were missing. And besides that, it would be really scary if they were lost in the cave nearby. And even scarier, the possibility of them getting kidnapped by some powerful Pokemon was high if they were lost in the cave.

And Frank tried to think (or at least guess) where they are now.

"Well, let's see. Jubilife City, no. Route 203, no. Somewhere nearby and not in the cave, hopefully."

They tried to look for them everywhere in the lower part of Route 204, hopefully finding them somewhere nearby. And as each possible hiding spot is found and had no signs of Nicolas, Anne or both, hope starting to slip away. Once every inch, every sector and every area was scanned with none of the duo found, they realized it was the worst-case scenario that was true: In the cave. They didn't think about the other places because they were either too big to locate in time or too far away from the station.

And they quickly ran to the entrance of the dark cave. With everyone looking at the cave's entrance from top to bottom, they knew it was exceedingly risky. And the size of it, it was big from their point of view, due to the fact that the Pokemon they are less than 3 feet tall.

"So, if this is where they are trapped in, I guess it would be risking our lives." Frank calmly spoke.

Like they say, one step for man, giant step for mankind; or Pokemon species in this situation. The cave was so dark that it was pitch black after a few meters in the cave. But even under this condition, they could still see. How is it possible? From Mark's flame of course. Mark was embarrassed as being the source of light for the cave, but the embarrassment didn't last long. After around going up the rocky stairs, they could see a piece of wood that was used to be lit by fire. In short, it was torchwood. And obviously, either Mark or Clive could light the torchwood up for the other to hold. Well, since Clive had no hands whatsoever, Clive spit out fireballs to the torchwood, lighting up in flames. Then, Mark holds it up. Why Mark? Because he is a Fire-type and if a Water-type is holding it, he might put out the flame and if a Grass-type was holding it, he might get damaged.

After walking dozens of meters and crying out Nicolas and Anne's names, they reached a T-intersection. On their left was rocks to climb on and if they weren't mistaken, there is an underground lake with a few rocks to jump on to get to the other side. On their right side, was only rocks to climb on and then they are out of this ravaged cave. But why quit if they didn't achieve the objective?

That's when they went to the left side. Climbing the rocks was easy for Frank since he was a Treecko, and he did it with little difficulty, while for the rest, it's next to impossible. First of all, Wallace and William walked on fours, so climbing was a challenge and it was even harder for Wallace, since his paws were round and flat. Mark doesn't have any stickiness in his hands or claws or anything so it's like trying to climb a soapy wall. For Clive…he has no arms or hands. And Dave, his hands were…like a Piplup's. So while Frank was on one side of the path, everyone else was struggling to even get on top of the rock.

Frank knew going solo and leaving everyone else behind was a bit of a bad idea, so he shouted to William and Dave;

"Hey! Use Water Gun on the rocks! That would break or at least weaken the rocks!"

They did as they were told to, and with the amount of water coming out of their little bodies, it was enough to push them to their limits and break. After that, everyone quickly ran to Frank's side.

There were a few more rocks that needed climbing, but that was taken care of by 2 Water Guns. After a bit of exploring, they found a lake and on the other side is land. Most of the group suspected that Nicolas and Anne are trapped there. If only they can get there.

But one problem; crossing the lake. Even if they are rocks there they can jump on, it's way too risky. The Water-types can go there but they can't carry the other Pokemon; even the Fire-types, lest they want them to get severely damaged. However, hope was raised back to their souls when they saw something on the lake. It was a wooden raft! And again, moral got low when they came back to their senses and the wooden raft was actually on the other side of the lake.

"Aw come on! How are we supposed to get to the other side now?" Both Fire-types complained.

And everyone just sat there thinking of a way to get to the other side of the lake. Then Wallace thought of a plan.

"What if one of us can jump on the rocks, get to the other side, get on the raft and make the raft go to this side of the lake and we can all board in!"

Everyone went with the idea. At this point, they had to choose who's going to get to the other side. Everyone pointed fingers at Frank. Well because most Treecko are practically like ninjas and jumping on rocks is a piece of cake for a ninja.

After that, just like in the Olympics, everyone stayed back and watched Frank get ready to jump on the rocks. After a few moments of silence, he jumped on the first rock, then jumping to the second rock and so on and so forth until he reached the rock nearest to the raft. He knew he needs to act fast because the raft is starting to go away from him. Then, he made a huge jump, almost missing, with only his Treecko-like hands holding the raft. When he got up, everyone cheered for his victory. Then, there's one last thing to do, make the raft come to them. He tried to make it come to them by using his hands…or whatever his hands are called now.

On the contrary, the tide was more powerful than his Treecko hands so the raft started to go away. Everybody back at their side were really disappointed at this. Then, in an instant, Frank got a final plan.

From everyone else's perspective, Frank just dived in the water. Then, they started to notice something. Even if the tide was pushing the raft away from them, somehow the raft looks like it's coming to them. Then didn't know what was going on until it finally reached their side. When Frank got out of the water, they knew he was pushing the boat underwater.

"…I told you I can make it." Frank tiringly said.

And everyone got on the boat. Wallace went last and that presented another problem. Wallace became **really** heavy when he was transformed. And so, the raft started to slowly sink. Wallace tried to balance his weight by going to the center of the raft, but that made it sank all the more. Frank dived in again and tried to push the raft to the other side. But the distance was a bit big and the raft was a lot heavier now with 5 Pokemon on it.

Frank was not making as much progress as he thought, with him pushing the raft only like 10 or 20 inches per second whereas he was pushing it at 100 inches a second when it was just the raft. Just halfway, water started to cover the floor of the raft. And the Fire-types are not really benefiting from this; they are getting short moments of pains every time their feet touch the water.

When the raft was third-fourths from the other side, Dave and Clive resorted to holding the sail. Yes, the raft had a sail. Every second counts now.

With only mere inches away, the raft almost sunk. But Wallace managed to jump to the other side. After that, the raft started to go up and float again. At least Dave and Clive didn't suffer any major damage.

When everyone went back to dry land, they went left and continued until the path went right. That's when they hear some voices.

"Someone please help us!"


	13. Escape To the Hills

**Chapter 12:**

**Escape To the Hills**

"_A successful man is one who can lay a firm foundation with the bricks others have thrown at him." ~David Brinkley_

* * *

"Someone, please help us!" and other variations of that quote are all they can hear. And it's coming from the right path. And when they got closer, they identified the voices and they couldn't believe who was saying that. It was Nicolas and Anne's shout for help.

"Finally, they are near!" Clive happily shouted…and a bit too loud.

"Shhh! This cave is said to be very fragile! If you shout very loud, the cave might collapse on us!" Frank whispered to Clive.

"Oops, sorry." Clive whispered even quieter.

When they finally reached the turn and went right, they couldn't believe their eyes. Nicolas and Anne were there! Except they were tied on to a rock with a rope. But strangely, their mouths weren't covered or anything like that like you saw in the movies. Even stranger, there isn't any bad guy there or anything. It was just the two tied on a rock, nothing else.

"Thank goodness you're alive!" Wallace spoke as he and the others ran to untie the ropes, even though his hands are complete stubs.

When everyone finished untying the rope, the two were free.

"Thanks! How could we every repay you?" Anne shouted happily.

"By tying yourself back to the rock again…" A mysterious voice said in the midst of the darkness.

Everyone turned into the direction of the voice and a Garchomp slowly walked out. With its scary appearance, that was enough to scare nearly everyone out.

"Hey guys, that was the guy who kidnapped us!" Anne uneasily spoke, slowly walking backwards to the wall…like everyone else.

And Garchomp was walking towards them, scaring them by each step.

"So…I got all of your little friends, and the best of all, they're all in one small place!" the Garchomp spoken darkly.

And in that moment, Frank stepped out. Apparently, his confidence exceedingly increased when he was turned into a Treecko. Now, he thinks he can take Garchomp on. Frank glared at Garchomp in the eye.

"You are never going to eat any of friends, Chopper!"

"Chopper? How dare you call me Chopper, Tree gecko!"

"Grinder!"

"Climber!"

"Dicer!"

"Breezey going over the Grassy!"

"Food Processor!"

"Food Processor! That's it! I'm gonna take you out first!"

And in that moment, Grachomp was trying to slashing his claws to Frank, but to his dismay, Frank is dodging each and every slash like a ninja. And at the last slash, Frank was just standing there. Little did the Garchomp know, it was a disaster waiting to happen. Frank was standing in front of one of the cave's many walls. When the Garchomp was running to him with his claw ready to pierce him, Frank dodged it quick and instead, Garchomp pierced the wall. It was funny for the gang to see a Garchomp's claw being stuck so deeply in the wall, and he looks much stressed trying to get it off.

Afterwards, Frank was about to strike back with a well-placed Quick Attack, and just as anticipated, the Garchomp was struck with fast and painful force. As a consequence, the Garchomp deflected the force to his arm and pulled his claw out.

"Thank you for helping me get my claw out!"

"But…but…"

"You will have no 'buts' to say when I'm finished with you!"

And the Garchomp dug into the ground. Frank knew he was about to strike him at any time. Problem is he doesn't know where. After a brief moment, the ground starting shaking about. He decided to just stand there, ready to face him head on. But when the shaking stopped, he didn't see the Garchomp in front of him. When he turned around, he was behind him, but he realized it too late. The Garchomp already got a hold of Frank.

Everyone else gasped in horror, in fear that he may be finished. But Frank just closed his eyes, trying his best not to move or struggle. With everyone joining in the pursuit, Garchomp was trying to make a run for it and get away from them as fast as possible. The gang at the back were hoping Frank would be saved, even if it had to be a weird save. Then something amazing happened. Garchomp was starting to slow down and looking tired. After that, he started to slow to a walk then to a crawl then he was so exhausted, he just fell to the ground, unaware that he released Frank.

"Man I'm so tired…"

That was when Frank opened his eyes; that was when the Garchomp went unconscious.

"But, how did you do it?" William asked.

"Hey…it's just a simple Absorb." Frank said with a smirk.

"Well, how do you use it?" Nicolas cheerily asked, with his new personality starting to be known.

"Well, we don't have time to chat about this; we have to get out of here!" Dave shouted loudly.

A bit too loudly.

The cave was starting to tremble a lot. They knew that the cave was so ravaged, that it's finally time for it to collapse. With big chunks of rocks falling to the ground, they knew they have to escape the cave before it's too late. Besides, they only got one gym badge.

"C'mon let's go!"

Frank had experience with the layout of the cave, so he was leading the escape. Dodging falling rocks was easy for Frank, but not as true for everybody else. Not everyone can act, or even look, like a ninja. Once in a while, one of the members gets stopped by a falling rock, and it was up to Frank to save him. With this going on, it was taking forever to escape, but fortunately, it was also taking forever for the cave to collapse.

After a few minutes of running, the finally got the first half of the escape done. The second half would prove to be a big problem to the gang.

It was the _river._

When everyone saw the river, it looks like someone placed it there just to make them trapped there. Luckily for them, the raft is still intact despite the minor damage it took from the falling rocks.

Mark yelled "Hey every one, there's the raft! Hurry up we can still…"

Then a big boulder dropped on the raft, crashing it to a million wooden pieces.

"…make it?"

Their only last hope was by jumping on the rocks. But even that had its problems. The river was more vigorous than ever. And let me tell you, the water was starting to overflow. So if they have to escape, they have to do it fast.

"Come on Mark! Clive! You two first!" William shouted. He and everyone else knew that it's better for the Fire-types to go first and get a better chance of survival than go through a slow and painful time waiting for everyone else to use their turns.

Mark and Clive took a deep breath, and jumped, with Mark in the lead and Clive following. And beside the Fire-types were Dave and William swimming across the river. How they didn't do this when they crossed it before was probably lack of sense or they didn't have the knowledge of it before. The four made it across in quick succession. Then next, Nicolas went jumping on the rocks too. Next was Anne, who was just floating herself across the river. Then it came down to Frank and Wallace. With only the Grass-types left, they have to think fast.

"Well…race you!"

Frank immediately dived and starting swimming. Since Wallace's current body cannot apply swimming, he has to go through it the hard way. But as a Turtwig, he's weight made every jump look like a 20 meter jump. At times, he almost slipped off the rocks. With everyone else waiting for Wallace on the other side, not willing to live someone behind, they better start hoping. Despite Wallace's weight, he was able to make good progress…until he was on the second-to-last rock.

When he was about to jump on the last rock, a big rock collapsed on it, resulting both rocks to turn into smithereens. Now Wallace was faced with a big problem. He has to jump with all his best. He knew there was no way he can jump on such a short rock and live. But the place where the last rock used to be started to bubble up and then…

"BOO!" It was the Garchomp, jumping up from the waters.

"Aaahhh!" Wallace was yelling loudly, not noticing he jumped on the Garchomp's head, making him fall back to the water, then quickly jumping to somewhat safe ground.

"How did he get there?" Wallace questioned.

"No time for answers, Wallace. We have to get out now!" Dave shouted.

With everyone now rushing to the exit, they passed the entrance they came from.

"Hey, why aren't we going there? What about the Pokemon Station?" Nicolas asked.

"Yeah, how about the station?" Anne asked.

"We will signal them! For the least, shouting will be a good start!" Mark suggested.

Everyone was hot on heels as the cave was starting to crumble to oblivion. Bigger chunks of rocks started to fall out and the meters behind them started to collapse also. Then, when they are close to the exit, they heard a big crack.

"Oh no! The entrance is gonna collapse and we will never get out of here!" Frank yelled out loud.

And yes it was true. Rocks were starting to block the entrance. And everyone jumped over the rocks, with little time to spare. Well everyone except Wallace.

"Help! I can't get out of here myself!"

Wallace was starting to slow down and the entrance was already half blocked with rocks. Wallace stopped, concentrated on power, and ran. He knew he was being covered by some white aura. Wallace was running fast and now it was only seconds from him being free to him being trapped.

* * *

Outside, the Station members could see them. The leaders and co-leaders were shouting out to them. The station responded with an even louder shout. What were the leaders shouting to them anyway? They were telling them to pack up all the materials, portable camps and homes, everything and climb up the soon-to-be oblivion.

"Well that took care of that problem. Where's Mackie?" Mark asked.

"Wait…Mackie?" Dave responded.

"Oh great…you got him lost in that cave? Oh great! Now we have to find another Chatot!"

While everyone was arguing about Mackie, Frank noticed light emitting inside the cave from the entrance, and it was getting bigger and brighter.

"Hey guys, look at this."

Everyone came near the entrance and they too saw the light. And indeed it was getting bigger and brighter. When it was almost to the point where they can't take the brightness, the rocks blocking the entrance, broke and out came Wallace, and luckily, Mackie.

"So! What's the big hold up there guys!" Mackie said sarcastically.

"It's nothing Mackie; we just need to go to Florama Town with the rest of the station. Like they say 'a good soldier never leaves a man behind.'" Wallace spoke.

"Yeah, but they never said 'A good Pokemon never leaves a Pokemon behind'" Mackie sarcastically said back. It was replied with bursts of laughter.

Not far from their sight were flowers blooming and small white cottages in it. This meant only one thing: Floaroma Town is near.

"So how's long is it gonna take for the rest of the station to get to Floaroma Town?" Wallace asked Mackie.

"According to my calculations, it's gonna take…an hour."

"You got to be kidding me!"

"Nope, it's true."

"But what if you got your math wrong?"

"…Oh come on!"


	14. Galactic

**Chapter 13**

**Galactic**

"_Imagine all the people living life in peace. You may say I'm a dreamer, but I'm not the only one. I hope someday you'll join us, and the world will be as one" ~ John Lennon_

* * *

After the cave incident, they waited for the rest of the station to climb up the oblivion to the town. Cutting to the chase, with everyone nearly there, the gang climbed the final ramp to Floroma Town. And the town lives up to its name…literally. There were flowers everywhere, with less than a dozen of white cottages in it. There were even flowers in and on the cottages as décor.

The gang wanted to take the beauty in. But as the old saying goes "Don't drink too much honey…"

When everyone's feet were already on the flower field, everyone started to twitch, and then they started to cry out Pokemon cries.

"Oh no…it's happening again!" Wallace cried out.

"Come on guys, we have to fight our new instincts!" Frank yelped.

Everyone on the fields was indeed trying to fight it, but the instincts are already overcoming them. Luckily at this point, Mark figured an idea.

"Maybe the instincts have some sort of response when we are on the flowers! Everyone, get out of the field now!"

"Are you sure!" Nicolas shouted back.

"Yes I'm sure…ish"

But it was like hope didn't give any help to them. They were already deep in the field, so for everyone, it's a time trial to the finish. They were scrambling themselves to get out of the field. Their instincts were overcoming them by the second.

And boy that was close. Too close that it missed. And they were so close on getting out of the field, so it was really aggravating. And you know what they did when they were under the control? They were _frolicking in the field. _Yes, even Frank was using a flower stem for his mouth; don't even ask about it.

After a few minutes, it was all over. Everyone realized what their instincts just did to them.

"Did I just run around in the flowers?" Nicolas asked the crew.

"Ummm…everyone including you just did." Anne answered back.

Fortunately, everyone cooled down before it got so intense. And even better, they made some progress in reaching the second gym…

"So according to the map" Frank spoke while reading the Sinnoh map, "we are halfway to Eterna City. All we need to do, is to take this route, go north, enter Eterna forest and we go out of it from the northern-eastern path, traverse this small route and we are in Eterna City!"

"Umm…I don't think that's considered halfway." Dave disagreed.

"Why?"

"You have a flower stem, that's why!" Dave said with a laugh.

"That's not…oh come on!" Frank was paying too much attention to progress ahead that he forgot about his twig. "Come on…where are you?" Frank was looking down at the field, trying to look for his missing twig.

"Ok, so while waiting for Frank to find his twig, let's go to the Flower Shop. Of course we are not buying flowers. Just for the least, ask some help, what's the town about, are there any more area of the town we didn't see and that's just that." Wallace spoke.

The seven entered the small, simple flower shop through the glass door. They were greeted with a friendly ring of a bell. Everywhere, flowers were blooming on their pots and a mini berry shop was also there. And on the counter was a Buneary sleeping.

"Hey" Nicolas said, "the bell didn't wake her up!"

"Maybe she's really tired." Wallace theorized.

That's when Anne made another theory, "Wait a minute; I heard there was a week-long event in the flower shop that all the flowers were free and the berries were half their normal prices. The flower shop was also open from the morning of the first day of the event, all the way to last night with no closing whatsoever. Maybe all that tiring made her sleep!"

"Or she used Yawn on herself!" Mark joked, with lots of eyes staring on to him. "What! Don't you guys have any sense of humor?"

"No, but we have an extra sixth sense." William spoke.

"What?" Mark questioned.

"Consciousness!"

The Mudkip's joke was met with lots of laughter, much to the dismay of Mark.

"Oh yeah, then Anne has a seventh sense…mind control!" Mark joked back.

"Liar, liar, your butt's on fire!" William fought back.

"Hey, do you detect any enemies? Cause you have sonar!"

"Are you trying to impress me? Cause I saw you try to put fire in your stomach!"

"Well you more act like a muddy kid!"

All this fighting eventually woke the Buneary up. And you can't believe what she did when she woke up…

"WHY DID YOU WAKE ME UP! CAN'T YOU SEE I'M SLEEPING HERE!"

Good thing she didn't use any attacks. But waking her up early also gives her consequences…

"Oops, I am…I mean, we are really sorry." Wallace apologized .

"Wait a minute, a Turtwig talking to me? Am I going insane!"

"Hey, hey, slow down there" Wallace spoke while getting nearer to her, "this is not a dream! It's reality!"

"No, no, no! This is just crazy!"

"What? We are not just talking Pokemon, we are humans…actually former humans." Wallace explained.

"No…this is just a dream! Maybe if I pinch myself…" She was about to, when she realized her fingers and hands were replaced with Buneary-like paws. "…AAAGHHH! Now I need someone else to pinch me!"

"Ummm…who ever heard of a person pinching someone else when they are in a dream?" Dave asked sarcastically.

"Please, you need to understand!" Wallace shouted at her. But he already realized it's going to be a rough time with her.

When she looked down, she had yellow and brown fur everywhere. And her feet were also like a Buneary's.

"AAGH! What happened to my skin!"

When she tried to find her ears, her bunny ears were drooping; she can see part of her new ears.

"Oh Nonononononono…"

* * *

"AAAAGGHHH! I'm a Buneary! Please help me get out of this dream!" The freaked out Buneary was smashing her head against the coumter, with tears streaming down her face.

"Ma'am, or girl, or whatever, you have to realize that this is reality. We don't know how to change back. You can't just deny it! See, we accepted the situation!"

"How can I deny such a RADICAL SITUATION? This situation is too much of a fantasy to become real!"

"I know! But now, it's not a fantasy, its reality! The here and now!" Wallace loudly responded.

"But that's not possible!" The Buneary shouted back.

"Well, anything can happen anytime, anywhere!" Nicolas yelled at her.

"But…but…"

"Don't reject the situation! You have to believe us!" Wallace shouted at her.

"…Umm…OK…" The Buneary finally spoke, jumping down from the counter; "but I will only believe you if you can prove it."

The gang was baffling for some proof, when Frank finally came in, holding his toothpick…twig…whatever he's holding that some Treecko hold in their mouths.

"Hey, I found my twig!" Frank shouted excitedly, which was met with everyone was staring at him.

"What? Oh never mind." Frank spoke, "so, what's your progress?

Frank looked at the crying Buneary, and at that instant, he knew exactly what happened…

"Did you bully her?" …or at least somewhat.

"No!" Wallace said, trying to explain the situation, "She must've been asleep before the transformation, and she only woke up today! She was denying about her transformation, but then she said that she'll believe us only if we give her proof!"

"What about a gym badge?" Clive suggested, "that always works for me if someone thinks that I didn't beat a gym."

"Well, it's worth a try." Frank hesitantly said.

After an almost silent but heated debate, Mark was selected to hold the Coal Badge, since Frank doesn't have proper hands, Dave has flippers, William's and Wallace's hands were actually used as forelegs and besides, Wallace has flat, circular hands and feet and Clive has no hands (and arms) at all. As Mark slowly walked to the impatient Buneary under the counter, he's starting to have second thoughts about it.

_What if the Buneary thinks it's still a dream? What if she ambushes me with one of her attacks, despite her not having the knowledge to do any of them? What if she mistakes it for a fake badge? What if…_

His thoughts were stopped when he bumped into something. When he stood back up, he realized he bumped into the Buneary. And as if things were bad enough, he had lost hold of the badge.

"SO…where's your badge?"

Good thing is, he saw it was on his left side, within reach. But when he tried to reach it, the Buneary slapped his hand.

"Let me pick the badge!"

The Buneary walked (or rather hopped) her way to the badge and picked it up. She went back to Mark, showing the badge in her left paw.

"So…this is the only badge you got?"

"Yeah, we only beat Roark a day ago."

"Ok…I will believe that you are a human…at least from the past. That applies to the rest too!"

Everyone sighed in relief. Mark's doubts were false, and convincing the Buneary to believe the fact that they were also former humans was unexpectedly easy to do.

* * *

On the way out of the flower shop and going to Floaroma Meadow, the gang asked her questions.

"So what is your name?" Anne started.

"My name? It's Catherine, thank you very much."

"Well, why didn't you notice that you were transformed?" Nicolas asked.

"Well, there was a two-week long event where all the flowers were free. The blooming season is about to end, so the owner of the flower shop decided to give everyone free flowers before the blooming season finishes. So many people, mainly girls, came sprawling to our flower shop. In fact, even a few dozens of people wanted to get the flowers even after closing hours. So five days in the event, the owner decided to make the flower shop open 24/7 until the event ends, which means, I have to be awake 24/7. When I tried to sleep during those times, I would be woken up minutes later by a customer. In fact, I was so tired that starting four days ago, I couldn't keep my eyes up. I didn't notice it, but I slept. I was so amazed that I slept for three days straight. Somehow, I got transformed while I was asleep. Then, this morning, I woke up because some of you were arguing. You know how it goes from here."

"Wow…you were asleep for three days!" William exclaimed

"Yeah…but let me tell you something. Early in the event, I saw cyan-colored-hair people wearing spacesuit-like uniforms. The uniforms have a letter G on it. They tried to take all my Pokemon away. Only my Buneary still remained with me. Even my starter Pokemon, they took away…"

"Well…that's a darn shame." Frank slowly spoke.

"I know...if only I had more experience at that time. I would have…" Catherine spoke when she was interrupted by some rustlings in the tall flowers.

"Hey buddy, if you want to fight, then you have to get past me first!" Mark shouted at the rustles, ready with his fighting stance.

The rustling became more unstable, making the minutes ahead unpredictable. Mark had no fear in his mind or heart now. He was ready to fight whoever came out…unless it was another friend.

But out came a Murkrow. The Murkrow flew out of the flowers, spreading his wings wide. The gang knew he was going to hit them with Wing Attack. Catherine went into the line of fire and decided to use a move against the Murkrow.

"Step aside people! Let me do the talking here!" Catherine yelled.

Catherine opened her moth wide and out came a painful and freezing Ice Beam. The Murkrow got hit by the Ice Beam, putting him down to the ground.

"Well Miss," the Murkrow said with a Spanish accent, "you will have to say 'Adios' to your little friends…"


	15. Resourceful Energy

**Chapter 14:**

**Resourceful Energy**

"_For time and the world do not stand still. Change is the law of life. And those who look only to the past, or the present, are certain to miss the future." ~John F. Kennedy_

* * *

Floaroma Meadows; a place blooming with flowers of every color and every type, with the only things that are not a flower is a cottage and a tree or two. Usually, it would be quiet and peaceful here. But, it's one of these times when it's not really that quiet and peaceful. It was a Buneary with a group of Pokemon behind her, facing off with a Murkrow; that event was causing all the tension.

"What do you want from us?" The Buneary, named Catherine, shouted at the Murkrow. She and the rest _were_ humans until 3 days ago, when they woke up in their new Pokemon forms. The cause of this is unknown, but they are doing their best not just to revert back to their human forms but also to make much progress as possible while in their new forms.

"What do I want?" The Murkrow spoke up, "I want to fufill the goal of Team Galactic!"

Those nine words struck Catherine with emotion. The Murkrow could've been one of the Team Galactic grunts that robbed almost all of her Pokemon a few weeks back. She could remember the sorrowful memory vividly.

* * *

_Catherine was giving the customer the flowers she ordered. It was a start of another busy day in the flower shop. But what she didn't realize it was going to be an unexpected, tragic start of a day._

_Only a few minutes after that customer left the shop, three teenagers wearing suits that look like spacesuits forcibly came in. Their suits had a small letter "G" on the front part of the suit. The teenagers also had cyan-colored hair._

"_Hey you! The 10-year old looking girl!" One of the teenagers brutally shouted at her._

"_What do you want!" Catherine shouted back._

"_Your Pokemon of course!" One of them yelled back (again), as the other two teenagers started to snatch her Pokeballs._

"_What! NO!"_

"_I am sorry, but they are needed for an even greater purpose!" One of the snatchers spoke up._

"_Even greater purpose!" the innocent girl shouted back (yet again) at the teenagers, "Isn't training Pokemon already a very great purpose! I bet it's more greater than whatever 'purpose' you put my guiltless Pokemon into!"_

"_No matter what you say, little girl, we will still bring them into greater purposes. You just can't understand because you are imperfect!" one of the teenagers, which looks like the leader of the group (since he is a bit taller than the other two), yelled back at her._

"_Imperfect!" Catherine screamed back (once more), "All of us are imperfect! You were led by a fool!"_

"_No! We were led by the one that is perfect!" The leader shrieked at her._

"_And who is this 'perfect' guy?" Catherine shouted back._

"_He said that-" The teenager spoke when Catherine threw the old cashier to the teenager, hitting his stomach. Good thing it was not that heavy or Catherine would have been sent to jail, despite the youngsters being the bad guys._

"'…_that you are doing the wrong thing?' Of course! And the cashier? That's for trying to steal my Pokemon!"_

_The tension arises when Catherine figured out that the two already gathered all of her Poke balls except for the one that contained her Buneary. She knew that they are already getting away, so she decided to make one big move: she decided to fight back._

"_Buneary, GO!" _

_The red plasma-like energy went out of the Poke ball, transfiguring into a Buneary. _

"_Buneary, use Ice Beam!"_

_The teenagers, who are figured out to be Team Galactic grunts, tried to get away with all (but one) the Poke balls in hand. Good thing they were in their Ping-Pong-ball like size. They were running to the Floaroma Meadows, trying to hide from Catherine. But, they were already in her line of sight…and line of fire, as a beam of ice shoots at them. Fortunately for them, they dodged in time._

"_So, you are using your-Hey! Where's the Poke balls?" One of the grunts shouted._

"_Buneary, use Dizzy Punch!"_

"_Oh no!"_

_The Buneary rhythmically punched the grunts. It didn't hurt them that much, but the Buneary pushed them enough distance for Catherine to retrieve the remaining Poke balls._

_Back at the flower shop, the third grunt was starting to go back into consciousness, slowly standing up. He had one Poke ball left in his vincity. He pressed the button, leaking out red plasma, solidifying into a Pokemon not seen in Sinnoh…or possibly, not seen in the country. It was a grey dog-like Pokemon with a black nose, bulging veins, and holding a square log._

"…_This is why…I trained in Unova…"_

"_Timburr,use Dynamic Punch at the Buneary! And more importantly, the girl…"_

* * *

A rule of thumb however, she can remember the memory fully in just mere seconds, viewing them in also mere seconds. However, she was just standing there. Good for her, she finally snapped out of it…but not before the Murkrow disarmingly attacked her with Faint Attack.

"Ow! What was that for!" Catherine furiously asked.

"Never think of a single memory, especially in a battle, Miss." The Murkrow charmingly replied.

"That's it!" Catherine shouted, as her mouth started to glow…coldly.

"Wait a minute…not again!" The Murkrow wailed, flying away from her in panic.

"Yes again!" Catherine yelled before sending a second Ice Beam at the Murkrow, temporarily paralyzing his flying ability, thus, making him fall to the ground again.

"Ughhh…."

The Murkrow fainted. But Catherine wasn't happy over her victory. Of course, Catherine caused a few injuries in her human life, but those injuries are nothing compared to making a Pokemon faint. It was revenge for her, of course, but she totally misunderstood the point. She thought making him faint was an equivalent to him getting _killed._ If you would ask her if you made him faint at that moment, she would have replied that she _killed _him. But in reality, he wasn't killed. When a Pokemon faints, they don't die or anything similar. For namesake, they just faint; collapse; pass out; fall unconscious; they just faint. It's a simple concept understood by many. Catherine would have thought more about it, converse it with the others, and get it over with…if it wasn't for the Murkrow's transfiguration into some sort of red plasma then seemingly, sucked up to nowhere...

…but the red plasma does seem familiar…

"Wait a minute…I've seen this red thing before" Wallace commented.

"I agree with you mate!" Frank followed.

Then, the gang heard a soft thud. It was a Poke ball.

"Ahh...I get it! The red plasma came from the Poke ball." Wallace realized.

"…umm…Wallace…one question." Dave spoke up.

"What?"

"Who made the Murkrow go in the Poke ball?" Dave nervously asked.

Of course, _who _made the Murkrow go in the Poke ball? Things get more uneasy when Dave realized that it wasn't "Who made the Murkrow go in the Poke ball?" It was "Who made the Murkrow _return_ to his Poke ball?"

"…Wallace…" Dave asked again, now more nervous than before.

"What now?" Wallace spoke back.

"Is it possible…that a Pokemon can catch a Pokemon?" Dave restlessly asked, hoping the answer is a "no".

Wallace doubtfully answered "No…the latest version of the Poke ball scans the owner of the Poke ball and checks if it's a human or a Pokemon and if it's a Pokemon…it can't catch another Pokemon."

"So that means…not everyone is transformed into Pokemon?" Frank gravely questioned.

"Yes. It looks like we are not alone…" Wallace answered, sarcastically

"Ha-ha! Very funny!" Mark laughed at Wallace, with the rest of the gang looking straight at him.

"Hey? What's the problem again!" Mark jokingly asked.

"Maybe," Nicolas responded, "maybe you just have a more-than-average sense of humor. It's either you look special with it or you look nuts with it."

"Well, you stop—"Mark replied back but was interrupted.

"Good battle Murkrow!" A human-like, teenage, male voice said. And, it only took only a while before the gang saw a big human teenager, with dark blue hair, and wearing a weird astronaut-like suit; holding a Poke ball. Well, he's big from the gang's perspective.

"Oh no…please it's just nightmare; please it's just a nightmare," some of the members (and of course, except for Wallace and Frank) whispered in fear, trying to get out of a reality disguised as a nightmare, which escaping from is impossible.

"Yes, tremble before your fear, you incomplete Pokemon…" the teenager mysteriously and darkly spoke.

"Hey, we're not trembling in fear!" Mark shouted. But to his dismay, the teenager didn't get the message. Why? To those who weren't following with me, the gang and most of the world were turned into Pokemon, and humans can't understand most Pokemon speech. Ultimately, all the teenager heard was "Chim Chim Char, ChimChar!"

"What was that?" The teenager mocked, "It's either I can't hear you or I need a translator!"

"That's enough!" Mark shouted, as he used Fury Swipes on the teenager. It was painful from the teenager's perspective. Getting over half a dozen cuts was really painful to him.

"I told you before, you Pokemon are incomplete. You could've not attacked me and would've settled this peacefully, but you have pushed me too far." The teenager shouted, as he got a Poke ball and pushed the button, leaking out a red-plasma-like beam, which in turn, changes into a Golbat.

"Now Golbat, use Supersonic!"

The Golbat emitted strange and odd sounds from every part from its body, with the sound waves hitting all the ears (or unseen ears for some of them) of the gang. All of the gang were trying to cover the ears, but more problems aroused. Wallace, Nicolas and William can't lift his forelegs up to cover his ears, Clive doesn't have any hands or arms to cover his ears, Anne can hear the sound, no matter how hard she covered her ears due to her Physic-type, Catherine has short, but I'm not sure if she can cover her ears with her short arms and Dave has flippers, which I think, are not good at covering ears. In short, everyone heard the very annoying sound.

Then the side-effect happened: Confusion.

"C'mon everyone, attack him!" Wallace ordered everyone loudly. But they ended up hurting each other.

"Mark, why did you hurt me?" Wallace shouted at him.

"I didn't mean it!" Mark tried to explain, "I was trying to attack the Golbat, but then, some force made my attack you!"

"Oh great!" Wallace realized, "the move Supersonice may cause us to become confused. And it did made us confused!"

"Well, how do we snap out of confusion!" Mark shouted at him.

"Just wait for like, 10 seconds Mark!"

"10 SECONDS! We are in the middle of battle and you just tell me I have to wait 10 seconds before I snap out of confusion!"

"5 SECONDS!"

"So what now!"

"We're now snapped out of confusion!"

"Ha-ha, like you're really that sarcastic!" Mark mocked at Wallace.

"C'mon, let's attack him now! We're like, almost 10 of us and only 1 of him!" Frank shouted from a far (in a Pokemon's perspective of course).

"Bullet Seed!" Wallace and Frank shouted as seeds shoot out of their mouths.

"Brine!" Dave cried out as water forcefully came out of his beak.

"Water Gun!" William yelled as water also forcefully came out of his big mouth.

"Flame Wheel!" Mark roared as he coats himself in a wheel of flames.

"Incinerate!" Clive shouted as gush of fire spew out of his beak.

"Charge Beam!" Nicolas hollered as he's charging electricity, then firing a focused bundle of electricity.

"Ice Beam!" Catherine cried out as she spewed out a ray of ice.

"Confusion!" Anne yelled as she lets out a faint telekinetic force.

And all the above attacks are targeted to…you know who. It's the teenager's Golbat.

"Quick Golbat! Dodge it!" The teenager commanded the Golbat, hoping it's fast enough to dodge it. And luckily for him, the Golbat dodged all of the attacks…

…well, except Confusion. Since Anne is now a Psychic-type, she can sense where the Golbat will go. In the end, she hit the Golbat perfectly. And now, the Golbat is under confusion.

"And that's what you get for confusing us!" Anne noisily mocked at the Golbat.

"Let me do the final blow!" Catherine loudly spoke up.

"Quick Attack!" She shouted, as she attacks the confused Golbat at lightning speed. Like she said, it was the final blow. And it's pretty unusual for a single Quick Attack to make the confused Golbat faint. It could be Catherine was so strong, the Golbat was so weak or both.

"Ugh, we've been outnumbered!" The teenager said in disbelief. "Golbat, return!" He shouted as he let the Golbat turned into red plasma again and return into its Poke ball. Then, the teenager ran away from the meadows, deeper into the shadows.

* * *

It was still sunny outside, and it's still a long time before sunset, and the gang is walking away from Floaroma Town, and on to the next route

"So, what are we going to do now?" Catherine asked.

"Well, remember the badge I showed to you earlier?" Mark spoke.

"Wait a minute…you're going to beat all 8 gyms?" Catherine questioned in surprise.

"Yeah!"

"In a form of a Pokemon?"

"Well, we have to innovate to succeed!"


	16. Route to Happiness, Route to Sadness

A/N: All though it's now very late, I like to acknowledge valeforXD and 8TailsFox for reviewing my story; thanks valeforXD for giving a straight-to-the-point review and 8TailsFox for giving nice but short compliments…four times.

**Chapter 15:**

**Route to Happiness, Route to Sadness**

"_[I'm] Too old to cry but it hurts too much to laugh." ~Unknown_

* * *

The gang was crossing that old, wooden bridge in Route 205. It was very sunny outside the confinements of a building. A bit too sunny for them in fact. Too bad they don't have any magic to make it winter or any portable air conditioner or at least a small fan. But at least they don't have many problems with the sun now than while they were humans days before. The Grass-types have a system of photosynthesis integrated into their bodies, so they are getting a bit stronger with every few minutes of sun. The Fire-types are also getting strength from the sun. If you studied your science before, you would remember that the sun is not some solid ball or anything. It's a star. And like every other star in the universe, it's a big, fiery ball of very hot gases. Some scientists call the sun "a big fire ball", which explains the gain of strength of the Fire-types. The Water-types…not much effect from the sun. Since Water-types are super effective against Fire-types and the fact that the sun's rays hit half of the world, no special effect comes to the Water-types. It's the same for the Electric-type friend, the Physic-and-Fighting-type former human that was misunderstood for a wild Pokemon and a Normal-type that used to run a flower shop.

It was only after going through the patches of grass, going up stairs leading to some mountainous terrain, going through another bridge, leading to more mountainous terrain, one more patch of grass, that they found a bungalow; for the simpler people, a one-story house. The house was almost as big as a two-story house, so for only a brief moment, they were mistaken that it has two floors. Now here's the thing: If they weren't transformed, they would've gone into Eterna Forest nearby, get through that forest, get to the northern part of Route 205, and then they are already in Eterna City. But, in their current forms, it would take more than 2 times of their average height before they would be taller than a normal 10-year-old kid. So in short, the travel was considered very long from their perception. And boy, they were real tired.

"Hey!" Catherine shouted wearily, "There's a house! Maybe someone might give us a short rest there!"

"But what if no one is there?" Nicolas objected.

"Yeah; besides, what would happen if we were resting in that home and the owner comes in while we're in the middle of sleeping? Possibly rage." Wallace continued.

"Oh ple-eeeaa-se! Someone can just check what's inside from the window over there!" Catherine arrogantly stated as she pointed at the window with her stubby, brown paw. Everyone looked at her dumbfounded. How didn't they notice the almost-completely-transparent-many-paneled window? To even add to their speechless condition, it was very big to say for the very least. It almost spans the height of the tallness of the bungalow. The windows were also very colorful, like those stained glass windows in some special places.

As soon as Catherine saw the astonished look at their faces, she bigheadedly continued. "You guys are so-oo blind!"

"Hey, we're not blind!" Mark shouted, as the fire from his body started to glow brighter and the heat got more boiling.

"Catherine, no!" Wallace alerted, "Everyone knows that fun's fun, but you wouldn't survive without fainting under his rage!"

After a while, Mark finally cooled down. Thenceforth, everyone rushed to the window, hoping someone is there for the least. The inside of the house was even more dazzling than its exterior. The floor was made up of wood painted in white; furniture with a majority of them looking like it came from an antique shop, half a dozen bookshelves with metaphorically thousands of books, and a fireplace. And that was only the living room; they saw 2 doors which possibly mean a dining room, and a bedroom. Furthermore, to their relief, they saw a Pokemon sitting on one of the vintage chairs facing the fireplace. They couldn't see it clearly, but its hands look like blue wings, its head looks like an eighth note, and its tail looks like a metronome. After looking those aforementioned facts, they figure out it was a Chatot. But it couldn't be. It wouldn't. But maybe it's a different Chatot.

"Um…guys…the Chatot seems familiar." Frank identified.

"Familiar?" Mark yelled at Frank, "All Chatot look familiar! And that also applies to shiny Chatot!"

"I know, but this Chatot seems awfully familiar…"

"How familiar?" Dave asked.

"Remember Mackie?" Frank questioned back as a reply.

"Yeah; watcher over the station; always in a hurry to get to his job every morning."

"Well, the Chatot there could be Mackie!" Frank clarified, or at least speculated.

"Didn't you hear me, Frank?" Mark roared back at the Grass-type, "_All Chatot look the same!"_

"Besides Frank," Wallace chimed in, "I told Mackie to stay with the rest of the station."

"What's the point anyway?" William joined, "What are the odds?"

* * *

As soon as his words went out of his mouth, the Chatot slowly turned to see what's the noise about, unknowing to the crowd. The Chatot was shocked to see the Pokemon's station leaders and co-leaders, his friends, just standing outside the house, arguing, unaware that he's looking straight at them. He didn't know the Buneary though; possibly a new friend they had gained during the journey. While the gang was still oblivious to the Chatot's presence, the Chatot went out of his royal chair, flew his way to the doorknob, and did his best to turn the doorknob with his wings.

* * *

"Does Mackie have some sort of special appearance in his Chatot form, or at least some jewelry, hat or necklace or anything!" Dave argued.

"Other than the oversized hat we gave him for the first three hours of his stay days ago before he told us he's sick of it, no." Frank sternly answered back.

"Well, how about the ornaments…"

"…that Mackie left it back after realizing it's wrong to steal it." William interrupted.

"And he also declared 'That is it not right not to get something someone intentionally dropped on the ground.'" Clive added.

"Well that's pretty low logic for me." Frank mentioned.

"Well, that means that the Chatot there-" Mark spoke up, but interrupted by a loud, turning, metal sound, which followed by the front door of the house opening, with the Chatot falling to the ground with a "THUD!" from standing on the doorknob.

"Owie…" The Chatot spoke in pain with a recognizable nasal accent. Most Chatot did speak with a nasal accent, but this Chatot spoke it more nasally than a normal one would.

"Hold on a second…" Wallace said quietly with suspicion, "…that voice. It can't be…"

"Oh yes it can be! It's Mr. Mackie, the watcher of the Pokemon station, the one who has that oh-so famous thick and muffled accent, one of the many who have been transformed into Pokemon, the human who likes Chatot, now _a _Chatot!" The Chatot, now finally identified as Mackie, cheerfully introduced himself…which is odd. He already introduced himself 2 days ago, during the station's grand opening nighttime party. But now, he's here, alive, in the Pokemon flesh, and surprisingly, living in what seems to be a bungalow fit for a king, his queen and all the royal family members.

"Stop with the cheesy jokes Mackie and tell us why you are here." Wallace demanded.

"Why I'm here? I live here!" Mackie optimistically answered.

"What!" The rest exclaimed in astonishment.

"'What!' you may say…" Mackie sarcastically followed, "…of course, I actually live here, or more accurately, my parents do."

"So what? Did your parents die or something?" Anne questioned.

"Sadly, yes." Mackie answered with a single tear streaming down his parakeet-like face; as the single tear started to arouse more tears in the faces of the rest of the gang. Shortly after, he continued to explain:

"When I was like, 8 or 9, my parents were poor, on the verge of bankruptcy. The only available job that fitted my parents' qualifications and abilities was a maintenance keeper of all five facilities of the Battle Frontier for my father and a receptionist at the Resort Area…"

"And where do you suppose those places are?" Mark annoyingly asked.

"Mark…the Battle Frontier and Resort Area are in an island north of this region, on the eastern side of said region."

"Oh…okay."

"Ok, let's continue….before my parents went to their respective jobs, I had to live in my Uncle's room at an apartment in Jubilife City. After a year or two, although I think it's two years from then, I saw something showing on the TV that I couldn't finish without a tear flowing through my face…according to the newswoman, my parents were among the five who won the Pokemon Lottery, and you know how much they got?"

Mackie got silence; no one dared to answer.

"They got quarter a billion Pokes (which is the currency of most regions in the Pokemon world). For the simpler people, it's 250,000,000 Pokes. They were promoted from so low jobs up to expert trainers in the Battle Facilities, more specifically, my dad was a senior trainer at the Battle Tower and my mom was an expert trainer at the Battle Arcade…"

"What are they, Frontier Brains!" Mark snickered, with the rest of the gang exchanging quiet giggles.

"NO! And stop interrupting my speech!"

"Speech? Where's your podium and paper?…And don't forget the microphone!" Mark continued, as the laughs started to grow louder.

"STOP IT!"

"Okay! I'm stopping now!" Mark finally said, with still a grin in his face.

"Man, you're annoying. To resume…they successfully did their jobs, although they didn't become masters of the facilities. The offer to replace the current Battle Frontier Brains of their facilities came to them, but they declined it. After a few months, they decided to stop living all their life in the Battle Frontier and afforded a simple house in this Route."

"Before I carry on…" Mackie spoke, gesturing his left wing to point at the open entrance of the house, "…shall we?"

The group slowly walked in the house of Mackie's deceased parents. Some entered in two feet, some in fours, and Mackie entered by flying his way in the house and perched on the top of a nearby bookshelf filled with many books.

* * *

The living room was simply…quiet; not as lively as it may seem. The floor was almost fully covered by a carpet that looked like a gift from an emperor, stitched with a royal, design showcasing the Sinnoh Dragons, namely Dialgia, Palkia and Giratina in its alternate form. The floor, as the gang had figured before, was made up of…wood. But it wasn't ordinary wood. It was wood that came from the almost-extinct types of trees, painted in pure white. The bookshelves were made from trees that thrive in faraway regions. The bookshelves look like the ones in library, as it looks like each bookshelf contains a single topic in general. Science, Language, Mathemathics, Geography, books that say "How to…" You name it. The fireplace at the other side of the living room gives the impression of stones that were carefully carved by stone carvers taught by a monarch's royal family member. The sofas were covered with scarlet red cloth, its legs made out of gold. The small coffee table that stands in front of the fireplace and in front of the sofas was made out of delicate glass. The doors are made up of bronze and its doorknobs were made up of silver. The paintings framed on the walls seem to be made from the all-famous painter Burgh who resides in Unova. Only the walls itself don't look like it came from royalty.

"Wow" was the only word Wallace could think up to define the interior of the house.

"'Wow' indeed, Wallace" Mackie said, "and what about my story, friends?"

Everyone slowly went to the sofas and sat on them…or at least most of them. Wallace can't climb on the sofas due to both his inability to stand on two legs for even a few seconds and his incredible weight for such a small Pokemon. Clive didn't have any hands or arms to get up on the sofa, Nicolas and William has the inability to stand on two legs. When everyone is seated, Mackie flew from one of the bookshelves to the glass table, perching himself on the table. Everyone has all ears, eager to hear the rest of Mackie's story.

"…since their budget was enormous, they bought the most beautiful, the most priciest and the most antique material, furniture and stuff, including the fireplace and they decided to have their personal life there and their working life at the Battle Frontier. But, around six months ago, someone, or some team kidnapped my parents. I didn't know it yet until 2 months later when I was on my way to their house to tell it was my birthday...when I got to the house, I saw the police surrounding the house, some getting in the house, some getting out. I saw the police put yellow tape around the house. I asked one of the police offers what happened in the house. The police offer said that a couple is kidnapped, nowhere to be found. At that moment, I cried where I stood. It was the most grief moment I had in my life. The police officer sensed that I was their child, so he also felt compassionate for them. I told him that before they died, my parents told me that they will give the house to me when they pass away. When the police officer heard it, he commanded the officers to give me 10,000 Pokes. I asked him 'Why give me that much money?' He answered that even money cannot replace relationships, but the money was a gift for me; he said he gives this sort of stuff to those whose parents are kidnapped, deceased and/or ill. So I started living here, and life started to go back to normal as the weeks went by."

"Man, that's sad…" Mark whimpered, as tears still flow from the faces of the gang.

"But, let me tell you this:" Mackie boldly stated, "_Almost_ nothing can replace your parents, and your loved ones, and money is one of the things that can't replace those people."

"Yes," The whole group quietly spoke.


	17. Guidance

A/N: Thanks to TKman for giving a somewhat-not-in-depth review to this story.

For the quote that follows, no copyright infringement intended.

* * *

**Chapter 16:**

**Guidance**

"_By day the LORD went ahead of them in a pillar of cloud to guide them on their way and by night in a pillar of fire to give them light, so that they could travel by day or night." ~Exodus 13:21, NIV 2011 Version_

* * *

"Hold on a second…Team Galactic was behind all of this?" Mackie responded with anger.

"Yes." Wallace gravely replied back.

"You mean the fella with the dark blue hair was actually part of Team Galactic?" Mackie questioned.

"What!" Wallace exclaimed in surprise, "How did you know about the guy?"

"How am I **not **supposed to know? I was perched on one of the trees near Meadow Fields. I could see your battle between his Murkrow and his Golbat, not to mention the confusion part was pretty funny. In fact, I also saw you entering Floaroma Town from the roof a house, your instincts getting loose and all that, and yet more, I saw your little Catherine come out of the Flower Shop; heck, I was following you from thereon!"

"Hey! Stop calling me little!" Catherine shouted in defense; ironically, she is little after all, like the rest of the gang.

"What are you, a spy?" Mark sarcastically joked at Mackie, as the gang started to chuckle up again.

"Oh be quiet!" Mackie firmly commanded, "All I know is that Team Galactic is a doggone team, and unfortunately, it's not a small, local team either."

"It's not?" The whole gang voiced in unison, and surprise.

"Of course it's not! I saw a Team Galactic Headquarters in Eterna City and an—"

"Wait a minute!" Frank interrupted, "Did you just say that a headquarters of a bad team is located at Eterna City, which coincidentally, we're going there to earn our second badge?"

"Yeah! Are you deaf!" Mackie retorted jokingly.

"But what if the bad guys capture us? William asked with a Mudkip-in-fear face.

"Or capture us _then_ experiment on us?" Clive dreadfully followed suit.

"I don't want to know what's like in a Poke ball." Catherine uttered in terror.

"Nah, I don't think Team Galactic is _that_ bad." Mackie answered modestly, showing that Team Galactic is not some blood-thirsty team or anything like that.

"So, just to remind you," Mackie spoke, recapping the directions to Eterna City,"Eterna Forest is a maze-like forest. Many trainers and Pokemon got lost in the forest, and I hope you don't get lost there too. Good thing Anne is there with you."

"But why me?" Anne probed, wanting to find out why the group's lucky she's there.

"Anne, it's like this: Most Physic-type Pokemon can make a map by just observing the whole area, cartography you may say, you but you should consider yourself lucky that you turned into a Meditite; you are one of the few Pokemon that can fly or float and see the whole layout of the area."

"Really?"

"Really"

When Anne heard that, she got a feeling of pride down in her heart; that she can float and lead the rest of the group with correct directions. Even more, she might even lead them through trickier mazes, or possibly even trick their enemies to join the good side.

Mackie then made a somewhat-like-a-speech in front of everyone; "You all must be looking tired from your travel through the route. You can stay in the house for a few hours, as long as you don't break anything." When the talk finished, everyone went scattering 'round the house, checking the other rooms of the house, with Mackie going his way to the dining room.

* * *

"Mackie!"

"What now, Mark?"

"Can you cook?"

"Why do you say that?"

"Because I'm feeling really hungry, and I bet it's the same feeling for all of us too."

"Yeah…I can cook, but that was when I was a human. How can you possibly expect a Chatot, or even more loosely, a Pokemon, to cook something?"

"Umm…at least some pancakes or waffles? They're real simple to cook. For the pancakes, you just whisk the milk and eggs and I think some powder was included, and then you…get the pan and…flip the…mixture. I get what you mean…you can't flip pancakes with wings!"

"That's the point!"

Mark and Mackie arguing on the expensive, rare, wooden dining table wasn't a neat sight. The floor was still white wood, but the carpets were removed and the chairs look delicately made. The refrigerator was made out of mostly bronze, copper and luxurious stainless steel. I would've introduced the others in style as well but there's not much room for them. The only other thing that could be familiarized is the antique clock on the wall. I don't know how but it is powered by atoms; in comparison, an atom clock would take around 32,000 years before it goes offbeat by a single second. So this clock is basically the same thing, showing the correct time of 3:57 PM.

Most of the gang was in the bedroom. And if you have a gaming console, a computer, a television, and a CD player in that bedroom, you could say that the bedroom is the liveliest room in your house; lucky for the gang that they had Mackie as a friend. I would not go in depth of what happened in the room but essentially, Dave, Nicolas, Frank and William played a couple popular games such as "Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit", "Medal of Honor" and a pre-order of "Portal 2"; I don't want to know how they played those games like a professional, considering the statures and physiology of their current forms. Catherine and Anne used the internet in the computer and that leaves Clive in control of the CD player; as a result of having no arms and having a beak as both a nose and mouth, he had to peck the buttons to properly control the CD player. Fortunately for Mackie, Clive didn't break it.

That leaves Wallace alone in the living room, reading books…a lot of books, which is pretty hard for a Turtwig due to a number of reasons. One; it's the windy season that time so the wind always makes the pages go flying, so he needs a paperweight; the real problem is that his hands are circular stubs, so he can't hold anything at all. Two; when he tried to go to the next page, he has a lot of difficulty turning the page due to the cause of problem one.

Things get even worse; when it was dinner time, Mackie made them Leppa Berry Waffles. Mackie heard that Leppa Berries gives energy to Pokemon as much as a healthy breakfast for humans give in comparison; so he had to be very careful about their energy levels.

To summarize all the chaos activities in the house, it was mixed; mixed reception from my perspective.

* * *

It was almost midnight. The gang was still awake at this time, doing all sorts of fun stuff in the bedroom. Mackie just told them they have to sleep, but they're still awake. However, there's a solution for this: Before Mackie got transformed; he taught his Chatot the move Yawn via TM. If he knew how to do the move, he could make everyone sleep. But the title of the move is pretty easy to do; yawn. So Mackie yawned; and miraculously, everyone started to tire a bit, to a lot then, they slept on the bed. To make the story short, all the members of the gang slept on Mackie's enormous, expensive bed, due to Mackie's move. They all slept like a baby…Pokemon. In fact, everyone in the gang was snoring very loudly; no one minded…no one that is, except for Mackie. Mackie tried to sleep, but with all that noise, he just can't sleep. I mean, Mackie likes his friends more than you ever know, but there's only so much snoring he could take.

* * *

The sun rose up, as the fourth day since their transformation comes to start. The gang woke up early so they could get through Eterna Forest early, and get to Eterna City early. Mackie made them…guess…Leppa Berry pancakes _and _waffles, to get them up, energized and ready for the forest. With that finished, plus an hour of training, the gang was outside, about to leave. Mackie caught up to them, specifically Anne, to tell her something.

"Now don't be so full of yourself about your physic powers. You are not in your final form so it's not strong enough to do some major action."

"What did you say!" Anne shrieked in shock.

"Your physic powers are not strong enough…yet. You can't make 9 Pokemon, including yourself, float all your way to the other part of Route 205 without touching the ground, or teleport your way to Eterna City…"

Anne was real jealous as Mackie's so-called lecture went on. Even if she had the aforementioned ability, Mackie had the ability to skip the whole forest and just fly over the hills to get to Eterna City. Don't blame him; there's no Flying-type starter Pokemon so far anyways. To make matters worse, Mackie just told her that because she's in her first stage of her evolutionary line, her physic powers are limited and she can't float herself plus 8 other Pokemon all the way to Eterna City; that would be too irritating.

After the "lecture" was finished, Mackie gave them a goodbye and told them "to see me when I get there!" When Mackie's finished with his farewells, he flew his way above the trees and hills to Eterna City, leaving the gang on foot and through Eterna Forest.

"Mackie can fly his way there; why can't we!" Mark bawled in rage; Nicolas took notice real quick.

"Mark, don't let your anger get the best of you!"

"I don't care; you are just a weakling!" Mark yelled furiously, deflecting Nicolas's advice.

At this point, it looks like Mark was going to let the beast inside him out; luckily, Catherine acted in the nick of time.

"Ice Beam!" Catherine screamed as (yet again) a shaft of ice popped out of her mouth; but for the fact that Ice-type moves are not strong against Fire-type Pokemon, it didn't affect Mark that much. That's when Dave and William spoke up.

"We'll take care of this!" The water duo shouted in unity, as two columns of water came out of their mouths, shooting their way to Mark's already flaming body, about to act mercilessly. The columns of water hit Mark right on time, soaking him with H20, which almost made him faint. At that point, his strength is turned to weakness; almost crying due to the watery, (super effective) pain. Everyone, even Dave and William, looked at the shattered Mark, shivering of pain.

"Uhh…Dave…William…" Frank uttered quietly, but audible at the water pair.

"Yes?" William only responded with a simple word; Dave was very scared of his act, especially since that act was done on one of his best friends.

What did Frank response to their act? "…I think what you did…was overkill for Mark." No doubt it was figuratively overkill for Mark, who is now at the brink of fainting.

"Well, why won't you give him some more Leppa berries?" Catherine suggested.

"Well, where do **you** find Leppa berries?" Frank replied back with a question.

"Umm…I don't know; the nearest bush?"

"You have to do a lot more than that! Mackie used all of the Leppa berries from the nearby bushes! And the only thing that's left of them is seeds!"

"Well, why won't you plant them in the ground and let them grow?" Catherine incorrectly suggested again.

"And let them grow for days? They take more than just a few days, Catherine!"

At present, no one knows a way to help Mark, other than wait for him to get out of his cataclysmic status. The only solution these past-humans knew to cure this type of status was Leppa berries, which Mackie carelessly took all of it. For now, no one knows if Mark will be okay; no one knows if their journey will be delay; only time will tell….


	18. Triage at Dawn

A/N: Although I have no reviews today (or more appropriately, a long time) , I got a hidden reference to the Half-Life series in this chapter. Try to find it! ;) (This is just for fun, I was having a bucket load of stress while writing this chapter)

* * *

**Chapter 17**

**Triage at Dawn**

"_Lord, where we are wrong, make us willing to change; where we are right, make us easy to live with." ~ Peter Marshall_

* * *

The gang's recent events and encounters were really exhilarating. The gang encountered an owner of a flower shop that joined the gang, met and battled a Murkrow that turned out to be owned by someone that is a part of Team Galactic, battled his Golbat, learned that not everyone turned into Pokemon, found out that Mackie was watching them, visited his current house, listened to Mackie's tragic story, allowed to sleep over in his house, and most recently, got Mark in a traumatized state, only a few measurements away from Eterna Forest's entrance. If you asked him days from now what the tragedy was like, he would've told you that it was the most dispiriting time of his whole life. But if you were human at that time, it would be strings of the word "Chimchar", but if you were transformed few days ago—like almost the rest of the world did—you would've understood him.

Go back to that horrible tragedy; the tragedy that had Mark in a devastated stage, subdued with severe damage due to water…and the fact that he's a Fire-type. He can barely go on with his own energy; the only thing that can bring back his energy is either long rest or medication with a Leppa berry. And from the looks of things (and the fact that Mackie used up all the Leppa berries), they have to choose the time-consuming, enduring option; which is rest. Fast forward 20 to 30 minutes from then and Mark is recovering however he is at a very slow rate, but it's better than nothing. He was resting on a honey tree, with its honey dripping from the branches and the trunk, so Mark decided to eat the honey, in his conviction that the honey might speed up the healing process.

"Mark…are you feeling okay?" William, the mellow Mudkip, asked the tormented Mark.

The ailing Chimchar responded faintly, "…moan…I think I'm fine."

As for now, the only things that administer him are honey, friendship, support and time itself, with the gang delaying their timetable. Besides, there's always another day to battle a gym leader, but they only have one Mark. If he's too sickly to let the gang continue on, they can't ask another Mark, or even someone that has his personality and abilities, to go replace him; he's unique, just like the rest of the gang are.

When the gang realized Mark's importance to the gang, things start to go downhill, as they heard footsteps with the supplement of a windy sound. They don't sound like a human's footsteps but more of a Pokémon's footsteps. The gang turned around but saw nothing unusual…other than the fact that Wallace is missing.

"Wait a minute…where's Wallace?" Nicolas panicked in…well, panic.

When the words came out of his mouth, the gang started to be terrified including the wounded Mark. Wallace was the most mature of the gang, not to mention he was considered the sole leader of the group; it was hard to believe he was gone in an instant. Of course, he wasn't called the greatest mind of his generation, but everyone in the gang acted as if he was, and some bad curse struck him or something.

At that moment, things started to get even more alarming, as one bush started to shake, then it stops shaking, then another bush starts shaking, and the process repeats itself; from their point of view, Eterna Forest got a little scarier. What if someone was following them? What if someone wants to hurt them? Surely, Mackie couldn't possibly follow them, since they saw him flying to Eterna City firsthand. The Garchomp from the Ravaged Path could be following them, but that's a very low chance. It also couldn't be Team Galactic because it's quite obvious for them that Team Galactic may well be the only ones who weren't transformed and the scent from the bushes was from a Pokemon's. It was only 3 days in and the group has already one missing and one severely damaged; they don't want to increase the negativities any further.

The uncertainty started to rise in the hearts of the members of the group as the bushes started to become restless. They heard the footsteps get louder and louder, to the point that they can, although weakly, feel the footsteps coming closer. Safety for Mark and finding Wallace were prioritized; the members were ready to fight whoever this guy is. And then, whoever was in the bushes jumped out.

"BOO!"

The gang screamed; "AAAAGHHHH!" The scared Pokemon briefly scatter and hide in panic, with Anne carrying Mark to the back of a tree (regardless if trees do have backs). The figure that jumped out of the bushes laughed out loud (and evilly) when he saw the scared faces of the group. Under all the chaos were thoughts that say "I hope I don't get hurt" and other similar topics.

"Who are you?" Nicolas growled at the unidentified figure.

"Who am I?" The mysterious figure spoke in a dark voice, "I am…" The figured paused as he walked nearer to the gang, near enough to become recognizable. The whole gang shocked in who it was. It was a Turtwig, but not just an ordinary Turtwig…it was Wallace, holding a basket filled with Oran Berries.

"…Wallace." The Turtwig finally spoke, (in his normal voice).

"Wallace!" Frank snarled troublingly at him, "Why did you scare us like that?"

Wallace answered sarcastically, "I want to get some food…in style."

"How is _that_ gonna help Wallace?" Frank continued, "First, Mark got badly hurt by Dave and William and we all thought you're gone and you scare us?"

Wallace answered Frank's question quietly, "Frank, this will help…" Wallace searched through the numerous Oran berries, and under all of the blue fruit were several Leppa berries-the only available cure to Mark's critical loss of energy. Upon seeing the Leppa Berries, Frank was very shocked. At first, he thought it was not genuine Leppa Berries, thinking it was not in season. But after Wallace offered one Leppa Berry to him, he ate it. The taste was a combination of sweet, sour and bitter with a hint of spiciness; surprisingly, it's also very watery. And only a few moments after he ate it, he felt some energy come to him. Frank was speechless. Frank's initial thoughts about it were wrong. So, the Grass-types hurry to Mark with the basket in hand…or at least with Frank's hand; Wallace used his hands as fore feet to run more quickly. When the twosome went to Mark, they saw a small crowd consisting of the other group members was surrounding the hurt former human, gloomily leaning on the trunk of a tree. As soon as Frank reached close to Mark, he humbly gave two Leppa Berries to Mark. Mark thanked him in return just before eating the delicious and moist berries. Mark was really impressed by its taste, abiding by the fact that he was new to Pokemon Berries, and as if by a miracle (and as expected), Mark had all of his energy back to his fiery body, and after a few more moments and a few more conversations, they continued on the journey.

After 10 to 15 minutes, they reached a point where they are already beyond the halfway point of the vast forest. With no enemies fought in the forest so far, they thought nothing could stop them. That's when Anne spotted something that blocked the narrow path they're standing on.

"There's something that's impeding our means to withdraw this woodland."

"Umm… in English please…simple English." Clive begged, trying to let her simplify her speech. And the others also want to have a simplified speech too.

"Ok…there's a small tree blocking our path." Anne spoke again in simplified terms…and she spoke it with boredom.

"Really, a small tree?" Mark spoke in laughter, "You know it's pretty easy to get through a small tree like that!" Like before, everyone stared at him with a serious thought in the back of their minds. But Mark's statement seemed true; the tree was only 3 or 4 feet tall. Its trunk was unusually thin, yet it looked like it had been well-cared and well-watered. The laughing Chimchar didn't see why Anne thought such a little tree would block such progress.

"Anne…are you sure that the tree is blocking our way?" Wallace asked the floating Physic-type.

After a few seconds of thinking, Anne overestimated the situation—the event being reminiscent to her old personality back when she was a human—and decided to try to float over the small tree.

Although the whole gang knew about it—except Catherine, since she didn't know about the personality change that took place during transformation yet—Wallace observed Anne's personality very carefully as she floated her way over the tree, even though observing her personality might seem very useless at the time. After the rest of the gang saw Anne on the other side of the tree, they tried to walk through it, with Wallace going last. Why last? Because there could be a trap and they would fall to a hole.

When the whole gang—except the heavy Turtwig, Wallace—went past the innocent-looking tree, the gang grew impatient. Wallace was stuck between one of its upper roots and a low-hanging branch. At first, the now-Pokemon cheered on Wallace, without any physical help. After a few minutes, the situation looked hopeless without any actual help. So, William interfered to the now discouraging crowd—silencing all oppositions against Wallace—went toward the tree, and helped Wallace…by trying to bite his little plant off his little body. But it has been said before that if the seedling was taken away from a Turtwig, he will lose all life, so William knew what he was doing was highly risky, not to mention it could be not worth the risk. And from Wallace's point of view, things are going worse for him. The more William tried to pull him out of his…stuck situation; he started to feel as if his vital signs were slipping away. Sadly, as Wallace was almost unstuck, he felt as if his plant started to tear. His vision started to blur. The process of photosynthesis in his body is almost completely disabled. It was if he was about to die. But then, an Oran berry fell down from a bigger tree shading the small tree and the two Pokemon. He saw the Oran Berry rolling its way to him, but what if it stops somewhere far from his reach? What if William doesn't understand how important the berry is to him right now? As the berry started to slow in speed, Wallace hoped and hoped it would come near to him.

In time, it stopped. It was not near to him, but it was not too far from him to reach. Wallace ate the Oran Berry, feeling some of his energy coming back, enough to push his whole body out of the sticky situation, crashing both himself and William. And in time too, the seedling was about to tear apart, but luckily, it can regenerate.

But, Murphy's Law took effect: "If anything bad can happen, it will and at the worst possible moment." It was only a few moments ago that Mark recovered from a severe injury; it was only a few seconds ago that Wallace got out of the tree, only retaining half of his energy; William being very tired. But the group's earlier speculations of a trap were proven to be true. The ground started to shake, and then they felt that the ground they were standing on (or Anne floating on) was actually a very thick layer of paper…a bit wasteful for a trap. They fell about 5 feet before landing on the ground…or more appropriately, the end of a hole.

"Hey! What happened to the soil!" Mark sarcastically shouted in panic.

Then, they saw four silhouettes on the real ground. They could only see a very black outline of them, since they were also looking at the sunlight. Then, they heard the silhouettes sing.

"Listen, is that a voice I hear?"

"It's speaking to me loud and clear!"

"On the wind!"

"Past the stars!"

"Bringing chaos at a breakneck pace!"

"Dashing hope, putting fear in its place!"

"A rose by any other name is just as sweet!"

"When everything's worse, our work is complete!"

"Jessie!"

"And James"

"And Meowth, now dat's a name!"

"Putting the do-gooders in their place!"

And, as if by magic, the silhouettes became identifiable figures: One Seviper, one Carnivine, one Meowth and one Wobuffet.

"We're Team Rocket…in your face!"

And the Wobuffet shouted "Of course!"

Then, the Seviper—who claimed her name was Jessie—looked down at the hole, but shocked not to find what they're looking for. "What! No Pikachu!"

"Pikachu!" Catherine shouted, "We have no Pikachu!"

"Well, were the twerps with you!" The Carnivine—identified as James—questioned the group.

"Twerps, what Twerps!" Mark shouted back at the Pokemon.

That's when Jessie spoke up; "Well, do you know Ash…"

"…Ketchum?" Wallace interrupted, "Yes, the 10-year-old-trainer who has a Pikachu as his partner and gained all 8 badges from Kanto, Johto and Hoenn and has seven badges in this region."

"Well, we thought we got Ash, his Pikachu, Dawn and Brock; now seen as a Pikachu, a Piplup and a Sudowodo, respectively, with their Pokemon buddies!" The Meowth spoke up in desperation; only a few moments later, he reconsidered the situation at hand. "Or maybe, some extra loot for da boss, I mean, look at dose numerous starters, not ta mention da additional Pokemon!"

James agreed with Meowth, "You're right! Maybe we didn't get the twerps, but this seems like a promising consolation prize!"

Then, Jessie joined the agreement, "Same with you! Now let's try to get all of you!"


	19. Survival Mode

**Chapter 18**

**Survival Mode**

"_Expect problems and eat them for breakfast_._" ~Alfred A. Montapert_

* * *

It was a nice day in Eterna Forest; trainers going in the forest, sometimes getting trapped in the wooden maze in the woods. Pokemon Battles were occasional around here, different kinds of berries bloomed in their respective seasons, hidden treasures lie in hard-to reach and hard-to-see areas and wild Pokemon were thriving everywhere. The forest proved as both a place where trainers can hone their skills and a haven for Pokemon.

…of course, it was all that until four days ago, when seemingly, all of the world's human population transformed into Pokemon. Some have decided to try continuing human life in such an unfitting form; others have chosen to live as wild Pokemon; some did actions that are unknown to me; what would you expect from a spectator? I couldn't be in two places at the same time. But what I do know is that most trainers decided to carry on their Pokemon journey, despite them being the Pokemon themselves. Even in their current forms, progress was made. Trainers battled gym leaders with new rules in their new forms. Battles were now experienced firsthand; they experienced the pain, power and abilities of a Pokemon.

However, the villainous teams, albeit affected as well, still did whatever they were doing it after initial shocks. Team Rocket were still, of course, stealing Pokemon; Team Galactic still doing their part on whatever plot they're doing and the evil organization at Unova…their true motives are unkown. Now, focusing on Team Rocket, progress was slow, but at least they're well-established. Having trapped 9 Pokemon, despite them also former humans, I could say it was a well-planned plan. To make things even better for Team Rocket, their current forms allowed them to up their chances of winning. They were already in their fighting stance…if they did have any.

"Please, understand us!" Catherine begged the baddies, "We are just normal trainers!"

Meowth deflected her plead, "'Normal trainers' eh? How come you're now Pokemon and you consider yourselves trainers? Got any badges?"

Mark sarcastically boasted, "Yeah! We have a single badge!" Mark picked up the badge case that fell with the gang, opened it, plucked up the Coal Badge, and raised it up high with his hand, "See! This is genuine badge!" Mark thought that would be at least enough evidence that they're strong and can do much damage.

On the contrary, Jessie attempted to strike Mark with her poisonous tail, but Mark proved to be agile by carelessly dodging the attack, jumping to the other side of the hole and let the hit smack Catherine, miraculously missing the other seven victims; let the depth of the hole speak for itself; it was only like two or three feet deep, so most of her tail entered the hole. Mark almost immediately turned around and saw Catherine hurt with poison. To make matters even worse, the basket that Wallace brought with him only contained Leppa Berries and Oran Berries, no Pecha Berries. If only some miracle would show a single Pecha Berry within their reach, then Catherine would be better. Sadly, the miracle didn't show up to them. No extra lights, no light from above, no hints to guide them to the nearest Pecha Berry; nada.

"Let me deal with them next!" James shouted, as he spewed out many seeds from his mouth, firing them at the group. In an attempt to dodge the fast-hitting seeds, the gang scattered inside the hole— which wasn't a good idea, since the hole was pretty was jam-packed with both confined space and a lot of Pokemon.

"Now it's my turn to turn the tables around!" Clive yelled out, as fire forcefully came out of his beak, burning both Jessie and James; with more pain on James since he is a Grass-type anyway.

"Ow! Ow! Ow!" The Carnivine shouted in burning pain, and jumping around in a way that he could not be able to damage them for a while; it can be said the same for Jessie.

"No way are you hurtin' my friends like dat!" Meowth cried out, as he brought out a weapon that looked like a rocket launcher. The whole gang saw the rocket launcher and they all trembled in fear.

"What are you gonna do? Kill us!" Wallace yelled in shock.

"Nah! I hate your organs flyin' around. Instead, I will catch you for da boss!"

Meowth fired the rocket launcher, and the projectile was a fast-travelling net.

"Incoming net!" Frank screamed out, as the net fast approached the gang. The Pokemon dodged the net, and briefly watched as the net stuck to the rough, subsoil surface.

"You're not getting away from me and my nets!" Meowth exclaimed, as he shot out more nets from his weapon, with each net failing to catch even one Pokemon. And let me tell you, Wallace was having a hard time dodging the nets, let alone both his speed and luck. Unfortunately, Meowth finally hit the slow-running Turtwig, but he barely hit him, with the net only catching the little plant on his head; but he's still stuck. The rest of the gang looked for a short time, and saw Wallace was already struggling to get out of the net. Even worse, the little plant was also stressed earlier in the day, when William tried to get Wallace out of a little tree.

"Well, at least I caught part of that Turtwig!" Meowth joked sarcastically, with a little grin in his face.

The little Turtwig, for the second time in the day, had his little seedling on his head under stress again. He didn't want to get severely sick, or even die. To make it a bit easier on him, he decided to not try to get out, so someone else can try to get him out.

* * *

Back to the chaos; like the others, Catherine was running for her life, despite her poisoned condition. Each and every short moment under the unpleasant condition, she would lose a part of her energy due to the poison. At this time, her condition had gone worse than ever. Her vision started to blur out. She asked herself, was she fainting? The pain increased every second; her sight decreased its strength every second; her strength getting away from her. She did make a Murkrow faint the day before; but she thought of a moral rule that was the result of a whole lot of misunderstanding of the Golden Rule. If she made him faint, maybe Jessie knew about her power and decided to make her faint earlier with her poison tail.

Then, she blacked out; fainted.

Mark saw her unconscious body. "NOOO!" He cried out in depression. Although they weren't in a boyfriend/girlfriend kind of relationship, their bonds acted like one. Mark ran to attempt to save her, but alas, he was caught by a net. The net met him with powerful force, pushing him the wall, beside the calm Wallace.

"So what does it feel like to be caught by a net?" Wallace sarcastically asked.

"Fine; at least it's not a Poke Ball" Mark softly and depressingly replied, "and it looks like the only thing caught is your little plant on your big head!"

"Mark, stop mocking me; unless your personality fits your recently-discovered bad-joking abilities."

Both of them sadly watched as Meowth caught more of them, one by one. It was not a pretty sight to see your friends getting captured; it wasn't slaughter nor was it a funeral, but the depression was close to both.

* * *

The last Pokemon standing was William. He was smart enough to attack them; even under panic. To make matters worse, Jessie and James recovered from their burns, and they were ready to attack. Even worse, James is a Carnivine, which is a Grass-type; so it means William will have a hard time and take a hard beating to finish them off. The rest of the members were caught in the nets, both on the sub-soil of the hole, and on the short walls of the hole.

"C'mon, stay still you dirty little!" Meowth muttered under his breath, as each net fired missed the nimble Mudkip.

"Ya miss me!" William taunted at the now-really-annoyed Meowth.

"A million times, yeah! But not for much longer!" Meowth taunted back, as he flipped a switch that was part of the weapon.

"What are you gonna shoot at me now, a plushie?" The Mudkip sneered, with a little chuckle.

"No! This!"

Meowth pulled the trigger, and out came a net. William went right and dodged it, but his victory didn't last long. The net magically steered a U-turn, and started chasing William.

"So who's da boss now?" Meowth ridiculed back.

"Umm…Meowth" James whispered, "Giovanni is our boss, remember?"

"It's a joke, James!" Meowth corrected.

In the midst of the argument, William thought of a very risky plan. William started to run at Meowth. As the net went even closer to touching him, it was a clear 50/50 chance of working. When he was about to hit Meowth, he quickly dodged him. The net was so close to him, that it caught Meowth by accident.

"One down, two to go!" William uttered under his breath.

He looked at the current forms of James and Jessie, being a frightening Seviper and an abnormal venus-trap creature-thing; A.K.A. a Carnivine. He looked back at his trapped friends, all (but Wallace) struggling to get out of the nets and onto freedom…which didn't look very near as of now. He looked back, took his fighting stance, and sprayed mud on both of their faces; lowering their vision strength.

"Agh! Mud in my face!" Jessie shouted in pain. James also yelled in the pain of…mud.

"That's not gonna help you win!" Jessie insulted, as she wrapped her body around William, basically choking the life out of him. As she put more force on her grip, the more painful it was for the little Mudkip. It was a clear no-win situation. No one else was there to save them. No one was even watching them. To them, it looked like a clear end. In fact, it was too clear that it was an end to their freedom. Being experimented on by Team Rocket's Administrators—if they weren't transformed—was a very frightening memory to think about. It looked all hopeless…

..Then, smoke started to fill the area. Everyone couldn't see anything beyond one foot from their position. Then, the gang heard sounds of flames and punches and kicks. Whoever it was, it was beating up both of the baddies. It was a long, intense fight that no one could see, but can hear. In the midst, the figure that was fighting the crooks, somehow freed the group from the nets; including Meowth. When the smoke cleared up, the ground was marked with scorches of fire; and both baddies beaten up and fainted. They could see their friends again plus Meowth, and a river that can be crossed by the wooden bridge, but in the distance, they could see Eterna City. Weird, maybe the mysterious guy brought them near the exit, and they didn't notice. They could also see a figure going to civilization. The figure had a greenish-bluish back emitting fire; it had a creamy-colored underside. The figure was about to go out of sight, when it turned back. The sun was blocking most of the view of the figure, but they saw his face with a long nose and squinty eyes. He looked back for only a short while before he headed for Eterna City.

"Ok…" Anne uttered, "…that figure saved us all and he didn't even acknowledge us!"

Nicolas looked at her, and spoke to her something, "Like the old saying goes 'the world doth moves in mysterious ways...'"

"Hey Nicolas," Mark started to joke; "do you speak Old English?" Frank whispered a quiet rebuke at him, "Mark, stop the joking! What if Nicolas might attack you?"

To his dismay, Mark ignored the scolding.

"So what? It's not that old to me!" Nicolas repelled the joke.

Wallace shouted in order to get their attention to stop arguing. He told them that, with a lot of time left, they should head for Eterna City, meet Mackie there, and possibly battle the gym leader all in one day. Everyone all agreed with what Wallace declared; so everyone walked together the limits of the city, hoping to not encounter any interruptions in the city of their second gym battle.

* * *

"Sir, may I speak freely and of my own free will…and of course, free language?"

"Yes; yes you may."

"You're a crazy lunatic for doing this to all of us!"

"…I regret saying yes to your previous question…"

"Because you _are_ a crazy lunatic!"


	20. Home Field Disadvantage

**Chapter 19:**

**Home Field Disadvantage**

"_Put your trust in the LORD and go ahead. Worry gets you no place" ~Roy Acuff_

* * *

The gang walked slowly together as they get closer and closer to the limits of Eterna City. The closer they got the more clearer they can describe. The scene was different than from the one back at Oreburgh City. This city showed a respect to old cultures with virtually forgotten remnants of history. Its appearance made it look old, and probably made to stay there for figuratively, eternally…hence the name Eterna. They saw a statue of some ancient Pokemon in the horizon, although they can't identify it clearly. Closer to them was a big dome with a Poke ball sign on the front of it, with lots of plants growing all over the exterior; no doubt this was the Eterna Gym. The gang awed in amazement of the city, especially the gym.

That's when they saw a figure flying right to them, specifically Anne. The figure crashed into the meditating Pokemon, blacking out Anne, and made a mess of things. The remainder of the gang saw the immediate crash and hoped that the figure was good or bad, and if Anne didn't get serious damage. In panic, the gang ran to Anne and the figure. As they got nearer, the silhouette became easier to identify until…

* * *

A few minutes later, Anne regained consciousness. As she started to open her eyes, she first saw a Chatot talking with the other members of the gang, hoping that she is alive and not seriously damaged. She tried to see and listen to the conversation with her eyes partially opened, so no one would notice that she's eavesdropping.

"So how come it always seems that whenever you fly very fast, you always crash to someone?"

"Well…" A nasal voice answered, "…it just seems, I don't know how to land well! I mean; it's only been four days since we turned into Pokemon. You can't just learn how to fly an airplane in just four days!"

"Well, flying on your own is different than learning how to fly a plane!"

"You don't know how flying works, don't you?"

"Umm…no."

"Well, as they say, 'Practice makes perfect'…even though we never were."

"What are you, a philosopher?"

Anne, although currently seeing with limited eyesight, now knew that Mackie was talking to Mark, and the other members of the gang…and she also realized that Mackie was the one who crashed into her; leaving an angry, yet unnoticeable face.

* * *

As I have said before, the Eterna Gym is in the horizon; but if the gang would've gone there immediately—should the said events would've not happened—they would realize that someone is already competing Gardenia. Inside the gym was complete difficulty; not for the challenger, but for the gym leader herself. The interior of the gym was virtually covered up by vines, aerial plants, and at the top of the interior, a large circular piece of glass, not just letting the sunlight in, but (somewhat) like a magnifying glass; it intensified the positive effects of the sun, thus, strengthening Grass-types effectively. But, in this battle, the glass was starting to change from home field advantage, to home field disadvantage, which will be explained later.

In the anteroom, there were comfy seats and couches and a TV on the wall…and, for the people who want to keep it simple, were newspaper on the small desk in the middle of the room. The carpet that was covering the whole floor had a green design with mosaics of trees, plants and leaves. There were also paintings of an abundant land overflowing with trees, grasses, rivers and waterfalls. To get to the other rooms of the gym, there were two options: On one hand, you can go through the big, pseudo-transparent, glass door and see the leader battle the challengers, or challenge her yourself, and—if by either series of intended events, or just simple coincidence—you might also get yourself a small audience of friends, enemies, rivals, strangers, or to simply put it, anyone at all. On the other hand, was another door with almost the same description as the other door, although it's smaller than its bigger counterpart. On the opposite side of the door was a set of very long stairs. After you travel through the long stairs, you'd see another door with the same set of description as the other 2 doors back in the anteroom. Once you open it and go across it, you see the view of Eterna City and all surrounding areas. You can also see a path leading to the entrance doors of the gym. The balcony circled the whole gym; giving you an almost full 360 view in an outward way; in laymen's term: You can see a very big landscape with small numbers of towns in the distance; save for Eterna City. If anyone looked down and saw the path that would end up at the foot of the entrance door, they would see 10 Pokemon walking on the path. It was mostly clear that they want to fight the Gardenia. But what they did not know, is that the gym leader, is going through a very rough and emotional fight.

* * *

Inside the gym, a fierce battle was being fought. It was a little Cyndaquil versus the gym leader. You might think that she is a Roserade or a Cherrim, but she wasn't either of those. She was changed into a Turtwig; it was her starter after all, and she figuratively cherished him almost everyday. It was a fight against starters, and as every second passed, it looks like one was winning and as the other seconds passed, the other one was winning. But when only a handful of minutes went, the Cyndaquil was starting to gain the upper hand, combining his type-advantage against Gardenia, the environment, and the cheers of the observers on the seats.

The two observers, a Totodile and a Chikorita, were friends of the challenger. In fact, they started their Pokemon Journey in Johto together; and even were part of the group "Friendly Authorities". As time went on, however, happiness started to fade away, and eventually, almost all the trust to keep the group alive. That's when they temporarily disbanded the group until further notice. But since they were changed into Pokemon—like almost everyone in the whole planet—they realized it was time to bring the group back together. They thought maybe having a gym battle _might_ get the other members attracted, if any of them were in Sinnoh. The only members they know that are currently in Sinnoh are Wallace, Dave and Mark. If at least one of them came, then they'll know.

As the Cyndaquil was cloaking itself in flames, the Totodile shouted words of encouragement, revealing the name. "C'mon Peter! You can do it! Use your flames to take her on!" If anyone was eavesdropping, they finally knew the name of the Cyndaquil: Peter. And the eavesdroppers (if there were any) would get more than they bargained for: Additional names.

Peter fired his Flame Charge at Gardenia, but she missed it by inches. The fiery projectile was headed toward one of the trees that is part of the environment of the gym. When it hit, the tree was in ablaze. The fire spread throughout the leaves of the tree, then the branches of the tree; the fire was dangerously approaching the bottom of the tree. Good thing Gardenia knew how to use Rain Dance. She summoned a heavy rain **inside the gym.** The rain didn't only quench the fire though. The rain also scattered to every meter of the room, and everyone was affected…including poor Peter.

"Philipp! Help me!" He yelled, at his Totodile friend, as he was starting to be seriously damaged by the rain. His fire on his back was starting to short out.

"I'm sorry Peter, but I can only encourage now. I can't help you; I have to abide by the rules!" Philipp sadly shouted back at the seemingly dying Cyndaquil. It was miserable words for Peter; if he only knew that some rules were meant to be broken when it comes to friendship. And this was only the start of it; Gardenia now had an advantage over him. Three to four minutes in and he's unable to use Fire-type moves. He continually pleaded to Philipp for him to at least intervene, but he didn't want to help him other than through words; if he only knew what was really the right the choice.

Philipp was so desperate, that he asked the Chikorita, Mary, what to do about the situation. If truth be told, he rarely asks Mary, or any girl for that matter, about anything. However, he needed the advice. Which choice was right? It was like asking if stealing is wrong, but the asker knows it's wrong; he was just not sure about the consequence or end result.

"Mary, should I help him?" He asked very loudly, due to the noise of the hard rain. Dumb question to ask if he knew what real friendship is about.

Mary replied in a scoffing way; "He's your friend, after all! You should help him!" Philipp was about to tell his fears about disobeying the Pokemon League rules, but she continued; "It doesn't matter what the rules are! A true friend does anything for another true friend!"

Philipp thought it out, but he had so little time. Each passing second, the rain seemed to take away the life of Peter; he was squealing out cries of pain and hurt; also shouting for help. Gardenia did have mercy though, as she wasn't attacking him. The rain seemed to last forever. His flames started to die out. That's when it was finally due time that Philipp has to do what is really right.

He jumped out of the seats, and went straight running at a Sitrus berry tree. He hurriedly picked up the berry, went rushing to Peter, and ministered Peter with the berry. Gardenia observed the event silently, as Peter was struggling and crying, all the while, the Totodile aided him. After a few minutes, the rain stopped, and Peter was gradually getting back his health and energy. Hadn't it be for Philipp, he would've fainted painfully. Now, Peter was ready to continue the fight; and it's possible he might be stronger than ever, probably because of rage.

* * *

The gang continued on the path to the gym, with Wallace leading the group. It was a long but rewarding walk, save for the jokes that Mark kept on…joking about. When they reached the entrance of the building, it was clear that they underestimated its height. It was as big as 7 floors high, and a few extra feet as a result of their present height and form. From their point of view, the building was enormous, and the door, albeit it's actually way smaller than the size of the gym itself, is just as big.

"Looks like it's big _and_ green!" Mackie exclaimed in awe and amazement. The door was so clear that they can see into the lobby, and not just that, they could also see the field of the battle room. They could see the brutal fight of Gardenia against... a Pokemon they couldn't identify at a very far range. Furthermore, they couldn't see what Pokemon Gardenia was. Since there was no receptionist in the lobby…or any reception desk for that matter, they decided to go in without permission; no questions were asked; no answers were said.

The gang got even more astonished while they walked in the lobby. The design of the lobby was tremendous, with the big carpet's design and scheme; the paintings' magnificence coupled with its meaning and purpose, and the doors being very simple and flawless. While the majority of the group was metaphorically stunned by the room's beauty, Anne saw the battle…and that's when something aroused in her mind.

"Hey, check this out!" Anne exclaimed loudly, loud enough to get the others' attention.

When everyone was looking at the fight, the doors were already starting to move, with everyone trying not to open the door, which seems nearly impossible when you have exactly 10 Pokemon literally squishing their faces on the used-to-be-clean glass of the door. The battle clash amongst the two former humans interested them, to the point that it even startled them. Anne asked Frank something that shocked him.

"Oi Frank, about the Cyndaquil…is he your friend; like part of that little secret group of yours?"

The unsuspecting Frank was totally surprised at her knowledge of the friendship clan. He didn't say anything about the group to Anne or to any outsiders of the circle. It's not like she read her mind…or did she?

"Wait a minute…" Frank suspected, "…have you been…reading what I was thinking?"

"Yes, and it looks like your 3 other friends had a strong relationship with the Johto starters, and not just that; you were also thinking those same three acquaintances as part of your little friendly circle. So it's no surprise to me that strong Cyndaquil in the room is actually a friend of yours."

"Hmph, just because you can read my mind, doesn't mean you know much about—"

As Frank was nearing the end of the sentence, the pressure on the door was too much. The glass was very strong, it didn't break, but the door gave in, and opened; making the whole gang trip on their feet—if all of them had them.

The fight was interrupted as the two Pokemon stopped battling to see what was going on. Once the group got back on their feet, most of them realized a few things: One; they saw Gardenia, and she was a Turtwig like Wallace, which was really awkward for him to look at. It was as if he was looking at his own mate. He blushed; but the blush was so obvious, that everyone saw it, even Gardenia herself. A majority of those who were present sneered and laughed at him, all because of a simple but clear blush on his face. Two; after the laughs died down, they realized the Cyndaquil and the other two at the audience seats. It was surprising enough that they met Frank, Clive, and William before they battled Roark; so it was even more surprising that they met Peter, Philipp, and Mary in the Eterna Gym, with the former already battling for the Forest Badge…

..and they were hoping to get the Forest Badge first.


	21. Reunifcation before the Fight

**Chapter 20:**

**Reunification before the Fight**

"_Plus he was sure that he could do all things  
Through Him who gave strength and can do all things" ~Trip Lee_

* * *

One side looked at the other side. The other side looked at one side. A group of former humans—majority of them part of a disbanded, now-recovering circle of friends—looked at the other group of former humans, including the gym leader of the Eterna Gym; Gardenia. For the aforesaid majority; seeing the Cyndaquil, Totodile, and Chikorita; and even more, realizing who they were, made them both surprised and happy. Most of the other side's members were happy for the same reason; yet over different identities. The remaining members of both sides were just puzzled; yet some of the others knew why and just kept their faces puzzled; call it fake emotions.

After a few minutes, they did something most people wouldn't see coming: The attending members of the seemingly non-existent circle of friends—not caring or even noticing what their other friends going to think about this next action—made a group hug. You might be presuming that they might've done something else; but there's something in their relationship—weather it be intensive friendship, extreme sorrow, the feeling of seeing someone you haven't seen for years— that caused them to do something like this. It didn't matter to them anyway; all it matters is that another reunion was made.

"So, 'long time, no see' friends, I see?" Gardenia, looking rather temperate, said, observing the overwhelming occasion of friends that haven't seen each other for a pretty long while.

The friends tangled in the engulfing embrace heard what the gym leader spoke, yet they didn't want to answer. Just seeing each other is irresistible enough to just throw others' opinion off the window. The only that counts for now is a memorable reunification.

When the group hug subsided, the past humans were wondering why Peter was fighting Gardenia, even if it seemed almost too obvious. And Mark was the first to speak up about the matter…

"Well Peter, why are you fighting this gym leader? I don't see _your_ Coal Badge, while I have mine. So, why are you doing this a bit earlier than us?"

The timid, yet brave Peter replied; "Me and my friends decided to reunite at least a small part of our circle. So, I thought fighting at the Eterna Gym will either attract attention, or you might come in to fight Gardenia, and realize that someone is fighting her; and I hope that you recognize me. It was Mary's idea, since she was very sad to not see even one of you for an extended amount of time. I and Philipp felt the loneliness also; we just didn't want to confess it to each other, or anyone else. We just stuck to the plan, pretending to do it with disagreement, groans and all that stuff—"

"So you _were_ really into my plan, aren't you?" Mary interrupted Peter (also addressing Philipp) in a shifty way.

"Of course, Mary," Philipp answered back, "You might call us—"

"—cowards? You're cowards because you didn't admit your true feelings!" Mary reflected.

"Can you stop this argument and let Peter speak?" Gardenia intervened. Both of them looked at her, and then looked at each other. They frowned because their arguments started to rule over them. After they settled it out, everyone's ear were on alert and ready to listen to every word that Peter is about to say.

"So I was saying: First of all, Mary suggested something; that we should search the whole region for you. But Philipp made a point: It's going to take too long; and, you also move around, so it's even harder, if not impossible. Then, on the day we're transformed, we tried to call you via my cellphone, but you didn't answer. That's when we thought of the one that got you here; try to lure you to us here…"

* * *

**Few hours ago…**

Peter, Philipp and Mary were under the trees and in the bushes as they settled for (a-very-innocent-looking) picnic. Mary had come up an idea—that was completely ridiculous to both Peter and Philipp, thinking it's too girly—that might lure the gang. They have already found out they are travelling to Eterna City, going through Eterna Forest first; so they set up a picnic, get attention to one of them, and "poof"; _happily ever, yet weird, after._

Wallace was almost out of the stubby tree, when the three saw some Pokemon in the horizon, at the other side of the path, shadowed by the abundant trees. What they could make up was a snake-like Pokemon, a cactus-thing, a Meowth, and a blue blob, sneakily looking at the gang; perhaps not knowing what Pokemon they are because of the distance; they might. Philipp would've sworn they had looked very familiar. Then noticed they were facing at a certain spot on the ground. True, the sides of the path are crowded with leaves and the density lessened as you get closer to the middle longitude of the path, but they noticed something fishy on a certain spot on the ground. It was so filled with leaves, that they couldn't see the ground. Or could they? Peter tugged the watching Philipp and the nervous Cyndaquil was pointing at the patch of leaves. Philipp rechecked, went a few steps forward and knew something wasn't right. There was a little, bare spot in the patch that can't be clearly seen, but what he saw was some kind of nylon rope. Upon seeing the rope, two things finally crossed their mind: One, the group of Pokemon at the other end was actually Team Rocket; with Jessie and James transformed into a Seviper and Carnivine, respectively. Two, the said group made a trap; and according to Peter's, Philipp's and Mary's knowledge of the team's rivalry against a popular trainer named "Ash" plus his friends, it could be most likely that they're expecting Ash (and of course, plus his friends) to fall in the hole; transformed or not. But, the real victims aren't even anything near that. Philipp knew beyond doubt that his friends are about to walk in the trap, not knowing it's one at all; not watching their steps. The dauntless Totodile yelled at them, "Don't continue! It's a trap!"

It was too late; by a few milliseconds.

They fell into the pit, screaming as they were falling all the way to the bottom of the hole; with Team Rocket running to the used-to-be-hidden trap to see if they got Ash's Pikachu _and_ Ash with his friends. They decided to keep safe distance so whoever's in the hole. But to their dismay, it was just a couple of starters and other Pokemon.

"Aw great, I expected some more valuable Pokemon than this!" James criticized, "At least this will do…"

"But how can we carry them!" Jessie irritably realized, "I don't have any limbs, you have small hands, if those are any, Meowth can carry some in a net, but not all, and Wobuffet, I'm not sure, but you think about this before doing it!" Suddenly, the mad Seviper wrapped around James, choking his Carnivine body. Whilst the strangled James was gasping for air, Meowth chimed in with something they didn't notice. Unknown to them was that 3 Pokemon hiding in the trees, eavesdropping (and perhaps remembering) to everything they'll say—No matter how ridiculous it might be.

"Don't you see that the net we used to hold the leaves above the hole, trapped or tangled the Pokemon down there?"

Meowth did make a point out there. It's possible they were struggling to at least try to use the rope as a ladder, but it's most likely that they got caught in the net. He explained further that if they all carried the net, it'd be easier to hold up. Whoever they're carrying to, he or she might not be happy that all they got was ordinary Pokemon in addition to starters from Sinnoh and Hoenn. Kind of like a prize _during_ their mission, not after.

Then, Team Rocket went closer to the pit; and decided to do one of the most absurd and nonsensical things that any of the heroes ever saw and heard:

"Listen, is that a voice I hear?"

"It's speaking to me loud and clear!"

"On the wind!"

"Past the stars!"

"Bringing chaos at a breakneck pace!"

"Dashing hope, putting fear in its place!"

"A rose by any other name is just as sweet!"

"When everything's worse, our work is complete!"

"Jessie!"

"And James"

"And Meowth, now dat's a name!"

"Putting the do-gooders in their place!"

As the words of the (apparently) last phrase came out of Jessie's mouth, the team came closer to the pit, fully revealing their forms. Then they continued;

"We're Team Rocket…in your face!"

And the Wobuffet shouted "Of course!"

Philipp, Peter and Mary walked closer to the happening, still practically cloaked by the bushes and the shadows of the towering trees. They watched the scene as it slowly folds out.

"What? No Pikachu!" Jessie actually spoke these words to further introduce herself, and probably trying to make them speak; thinking the trapped Pokemon are Ash's friends.

Catherine wondered why there looking for a Pikachu. She knew that no Pikachu is not present; let alone any evolution relative of it. So she shouted, "Pikachu? We have no Pikachu!"

James was disappointed about their first response to them; but of course, they may be trying to hide the culprit(s); asking them, "Well, were the twerps with you!"

"Twerps; what Twerps!" Mark crossly asked back, not knowing what the term is referring to.

It was like tennis; an argument going back and forth until the argument turned into a standoff. Catherine requested the team to spare them; in truth, none of them ever met Ash or any of his friends excluding a few gym leaders and some of the Elite Four. But Team Rocket didn't show any mercy; Meowth countered the plead, thinking they are not considered_ normal_ _trainers_, even when given evidence that they defeated at least one gym leader. In fact, they started even attacking them, still believing they are keeping them away from the truth. This misunderstanding led to Jessie poisoning Catherine. Philipp and Mary watched behind the line of sight as organized chaos was happening right in front of their eyes. Peter, due to his new and childish personality, wanted to look away, making his old one starting to die away, making him see at most half of the battle.

The disorder continued to rise, as Wallace's basket of berries only contained Leppa berries and Oran berries, as to the dismay of Catherine (and secretly, Mark); they needed a Pecha berry for curing a poisoned Pokemon. James started to spit out plenty of seeds from his mouth, targeting most of the Pokemon inside the hole. Everyone tried to hide, but it wasn't that of a good idea, thanks to the small space and many Pokemon in the pit. Clive fought back, throwing flames from his beak to both James and Jessie.

That's when Meowth upped the ante. The threesome shrouded by the shadows of the tall trees was very surprised when Meowth held up something that looked like an RPG (Rocket-Propelled-Grenade). If the cat-like Pokemon resorted to this kind of arsenal, everyone would normally think that it wouldn't be a pretty sight.

"What are you gonna do? Kill us!" Wallace shouted in fear and fright.

Meowth answered, "Nah, I hate your organs flyin' around! Instead, I will catch you for da boss!" After he said those words, everyone instantaneously got relieved, but still in fear and anger.

Meowth fired a great deal of nets, catching a good number of Pokemon in the process. And after a few minutes, the last one standing was William. His Mudkip form gained him more agility, making him being the final one on the hole; excluding Meowth.

But the cunning cat had a secret weapon (inside a secret weapon). He flipped a switch on the weapon, fired the net, and almost everyone gasped as they realized it was a heat-seeking missle. But what they saw was something splendid: He went running to Meowth, and the millisecond before he even touched him, he avoided the talking cat. The net was too slow to see that one coming, which means the net caught Meowth by accident. But the fight wasn't over yet; William still had to fight Jessie and James. After a not-so-painful Mud-slap, it didn't stop them. Jessie started wrapping her body 'round the little Mudkip. At this point, it was all hopeless…

…But, the timid Peter had to act to save his friends. He started to fill smoke in his body, and when he opened his mouth, it covered the whole commotion. The Pokemon there couldn't see a single thing, but Peter knew what he was doing. First, he covered himself in flames and attacked both of the baddies with fire. Next, he started bombarding all of Team Rocket with star-shaped rays. All of them fainted. He obviously also wanted his friends to be free, so he got the nets out of the walls, making the trapped Pokemon free. As the smoke faded away, the gang saw the little, but brave Cyndaquil. Peter decided to look back for a while, before going his way to Eterna City. Philipp and Mary followed ahim, but ran in the shrouded areas of Eterna Forest…

* * *

"Wow! I never knew you saved us Peter!" Nicolas thanked, as he acknowledged the gang's rescuer.

"Well, I welcome you;" Peter calmly appreciated, "besides, we're all friends, and a true soldier never leaves a man behind."

"And that statement is true too." Gardenia spoke up. Everyone instantly looked as she spoke.

"Oh I forgot, our fight!" Peter reminded her.

"No worries," Gardenia said, "besides, I'm putting that on hiatus now. Anyone of you up for another gym fight?"


	22. Questionable

Disclaimer: Everything that doesn't belong to me belongs to their respective owners.

**Chapter 21**

**Questionable**

"_Faith consists in believing when it is beyond the power of reason to believe" ~Voltaire_

* * *

"…anyone of you up for another gym fight?" Gardenia spoke with boldness. Here was a gym leader who wasn't just asking for more challenges; here stands a gym leader who is looking for the piece of gold in a gold mine. A gym leader is like a blacksmith; he refines valuable iron and steel to make more valuable objects out of them. There is no item that has unrefined iron or steel. The materials need to be honed and purified through the process of refining. Refining gets rid of the impurities of the materials so that the materials will not just be in the right shape or status to make something out of it, but it will also be more valuable, to be sold at a higher price.

Mark was really eager to fight Gardenia, even when it was scheduled for someone else to battle her, specifically Dave and William, the water-type Piplup and Mudkip, respectively. Mark didn't see the reason why the disadvantaged in the circle of friends are the ones to clash with the gym leader. If a fire-type gym leader comes up, Wallace and/or Frank will be the ones to fight him, despite them being grass-types. Mark thought it was complete nonsense, a disaster in the making.

As Wallace called their names, Dave and William stood up and straight. The Tiny Leaf Pokemon—referring to Wallace's current form—told them about the upcoming battle and to fight well. Dave and William walked toward their side of the battlefield of grass, trees, bushes and all types of flora. Gardenia, fresh from the previous action, went to her side of the arena, rolling a Poke Ball in hand, somehow evening the odds. Everyone else was surprised; could this Gardenia not be the real thing? Did the gym leader defect from good? Will she capture a human-turned-Pokemon in plain sight? Questions sprang up everywhere, weather verbal or mental, everyone looking at each other.

The referee, now a Breloom, announced the beginning of an official gym battle. The suspense intensified after each word that came out of the referee's mouth. Little hearts were pounding; many thoughts, theories, and conclusions came into their small minds; and the thirst of a nice battle was about to be quenched.

The referee was about to shout "Begin!" Who would know a single word can ignite a revolution, a riot, a rally, a championship, a battle? That one word would give the permission for both sides to fight until the finish…although due to the current circumstances, none wanted the "until the finish" part.

But, as if on cue, Gardenia halted the battle. Much to the impatience of the referee, she told him to wait for a while. She clicked the button of the Poke ball, and a red beam of energy came out and it solidified into a Turtwig, Gardenia's Turtwig. Everyone, especially Wallace, was surprised. They knew Gardenia would've wanted to even the odds, due to her status as a gym leader, but it was two amateurs against a gym leader and her Pokemon—it wasn't going to be a fair fight after all.

"Guys, I want you to meet my Turtwig" She spoke as she introduced her first and most beloved Pokemon. The Turtwig, although it hasn't evolved yet—if it wants to evolve—can pack a punch. He greeted all of the former humans as if they were Pokemon, though he openly acknowledged the fact that they were people before.

Gardenia told her Turtwig that he can take the floor. He spoke up, "I think some of you are saying in your head 'How did you react when you figured out almost every human in the world had turned into Pokemon?' I am here to answer the question: You all know that Pokemon can get out of the man-made Poke balls, right? Well, usually Gardenia brings all of us Pokemon out for a morning exercise. But on that day, I noticed that she wasn't getting us out of our Poke balls. I thought she woke up late, but after what felt like hours, I decided to get up and out. When I was out, I saw a Turtwig resting on a tree in the gym, staring into space. At that time, I didn't know it was Gardenia yet, so I asked what her name was. She said something, and I immediately recognized who it was. I was surprised that she had transformed into a Pokemon, even more surprised that she had turned into a Turtwig, like me. I was speechless for a while. She broke the silence by asking me if I was the same Turtwig that she owned. I told her 'Yes'. She too became speechless; after a while, she slowly brought out all of her remaining Pokemon, Cherubi and Roserade, then she announced and revealed what had happened to her. Like me, the other two were astonished. No one would've expected something like this.

"But then, we started to discover the extent of the transformations. The referee came up, but he appeared as a Breloom. He reported the news that everyone in Sinnoh, and likely the whole world, and of course, including him, had changed into Pokemon. In fact, he told us it was probable and plausible that they had all transformed instantaneously; and as what you humans say 'in a twinkling of an eye'. All three of us decided to get outside and see if our referee's report was true, and if it was, we wanted to see how big the effect of the changes were. When we went to the main area of Eterna City, we saw a lot of Pokemon, yes, but no humans in sight. I didn't dare ask any of them a single question. We went back to the gym, and Gardenia was silent for a little while. Then her face became happy as she said 'So what happens if everyone has changed into Pokemon? I won't let this little incident affect me! I will still fight the challengers, even if I and they are Pokemon now!' She has a really optimistic attitude. And that's when your three friends, Peter, Philipp and Mary came in the gym. Peter, the Cyndaquil over there—yes you, that one—well, he was the first challenger of the day, or more appropriately, the first challenger of the time that humans have turned into Pokemon. I was watching the battle from the balcony—I was on the glass roof."

Peter interrupted. "And I thought I was having illusions! At the start of the battle, I kept on asking Gardenia what the shadow that kept moving was. She looked up, but maybe the sun was so bright and the roof so high up that she couldn't clearly see what it was. I tried to see it too, but I couldn't see it clearly too." He stopped, with a few of his friends looking at his eyes, as if he was implying a joke.

Mark covered a smile with his hand and started to snicker. "Well, obviously you can't see it clearly if you squint so much like that!" Peter looked back at him, which made Mark laugh all the more. He glared at the cackling Mark, but with anger in his face, as fire erupted from his back; that made Mark stop laughing at once. Peter spoke to him.

"You really have to stop teasing me about my eyes. I still have my human rights—"

Mark interrupted. "But you're a Pokemon, so your human rights are invalid!"

"What about you? You're a Pokemon also! What if _I_ laugh at _you?_"

Mark thought about what Peter had just said. _What if they really laugh at me, not me laughing at them,_ he thought. He quickly and informally apologized to the Cyndaquil. Peter, knowing Mark's personality since he was in their friendly group early on in his life, assumed that he didn't mean it and was planning to pull another one at him when Mark thinks he forgot about the "joke"

"You know what?" The referee broke in. "I was about to declare an official gym battle—and probably _the_ first official Pokemon gym battle in the era of sensibly almost no humans—but then, well, you know what I mean—you interrupted this battle. As much as I wanted to host this battle, I'm ready to call it off."

"But with only my permission, right?" Gardenia said.

The referee made a sad face. "Uh, right," he responded.

"But we can start the battle now if you're feeling that depressed." Gardenia said, cheering him up a little. _Or whatever feeling you have now; I don't know what you're feeling anyway. _She turned to the majority of the crowd of friends. She nodded at Dave and Williams, signaling them to come closer. Her Turtwig came closer to her also. "Let's fight, shall we?"

Dave and William looked at each other, and then looked back at Gardenia to nod in unison. "We shall, Gardenia," William declared. The four of them—Dave, William, Gardenia, and her Turtwig—walked to the battlefield on their respective sides. The referee stepped up on a stand. Mackie began to fly over the battlefield to give a bird's eye view, leaving the rest of the Pokemon to sit on the seats.

The referee spoke loudly—or more likely shouted, "On this side is Gym Leader Gardenia with her Turtwig, and on this side are the challengers, Dave and William! Due to the recent…happening, this fight will not be a battle to the end; if both members of each side are at critical damage, then the other side will win. In the case that both sides are in deep harm, the result will be a draw and it is up to the gym leader to decide to give the badge to the challenger or not. The battle will begin, now!"

Right off the bat, Dave rushed at Gardenia, "beak-first" and started pecking at her with his beak. While he was pecking Gardenia, Dave quickly thought of what it would've happened if the transformations had not happened. Surely he can just command "Peck!" at his Piplup and it will take care of the rest and dish it out at Gardenia's Turtwig—no harm done to the humans. But in reality, harm _is_ being done to them when they have a Pokemon battle, because now, they are the Pokemon themselves. And Dave also figured out from the beginning, that if he's going to battle as a Pokemon, he wouldn't be the only one doing damage.

As Dave continued to peck at her, her Turtwig ran at him, swung his head, and razor-sharp leaves came hurtling at Dave. Dave tried to run away, but most of the pointed leaves hit him, and since Dave was a Water-type and the move was a Grass-type, he suffered more than usual. William turned his back facing the battlefield and started to kick soil at Gardenia and her Turtwig. He threw so much soil, that it formed a hill of dirt. Part of the soil thrown at them hit at their faces and had trouble trying to attack. Gardenia's Turtwig opened his mouth, and a big ball of energy started to form. Dave had retreated to William's side, and they both knew that if they didn't run out of the range of fire in time, they will suffer significantly. But there is another problem: William had kicked too much and while he didn't intend it, he had dug a hole. The hole was small, but really deep. The Turtwig released his energy ball, and the ball was coming fast.

Dave shouted at William to "get out of your 'home-made hole' ASAP! Leave me here; I know what I'm doing if you ask!"

William wanted to protest against Dave's order to leave him behind, but the energy ball got closer every second, and it seemed to get faster. _Good thing this battlefield is really long,_ he thought. He hurriedly got out of the hole, and eyed the fast approaching energy ball. Dave opened his beak and out came a forceful stream of bubbles. _He's using Bubble Beam on the energy ball!_ Williams thought. Most of the bubbles hit the energy ball, and it disappeared. Gardenia and her Turtwig were clearly surprised that it dissipated; they had not experienced something like this before. Dave got out of the hole, with a told-you-so look.

Gardenia's sprout on her head emitted a red beam and hit Dave. Dave seemed a bit weary; then he realized what Gardenia did to him: She absorbed his energy. But of course, she didn't take out all the energy from him. William helped him out by slamming himself at Gardenia's Turtwig.

Dave had retreated to a nearby tree to regain his strength, and rested. He saw William fighting with the two Turtwig. Dave stood up, but even while he was standing up, William seemed to be more focused on fighting than looking for Dave. Dave carelessly put his back on the tree, and it shook, letting a couple of Oran berries fall. Since he was really tired, he decided to take a bite of one of them. The afternoon before the transformations, his brothers had dared him to eat an Oran berry. It was one of the only few moments of his life prior to them being changed that he was brave. He took a bite, and gagged out, because of the bitter taste. But after the transformations, the Oran berry tasted delicious to him, contrary to his former self. And now, after that bite, he changed his mind to add a second bite mark to the Oran berry, then a third, fourth, fifth…

_Where in the world is that Dave,_ he thought, _I just hope you didn't ditch me in a middle of this fight, Dave._ Gardenia swung her head once more and more sharp leaves came dashing to William. He was able to dodge around half of the leaves, but the other half had hit him. Out of the blue, William asked a question.

"Gardenia, I know this may seem the inappropriate time to say this—" William had to act, so he opened his mouth and a blue ball of water formed. Gardenia was confused, not expecting William to say anything other than taunts, battle cries, among others. William quickly released the ball of water as it hurtled towards Gardenia and her Turtwig. They dodged it, but the ball of water hit the ground near them, and water splashed vigorously in the nearby area, hurting both Gardenia and her Turtwig.

Gardenia looked hard at William. "What do you want to say now?" She dashed at William and tackled at the fleeing Mudkip.

"Where is Dave?"

"Good question," Gardenia answered.

* * *

Philipp heard voices in the battlefield, but he can't make out what the voices said. Philipp also noticed that Dave wasn't present in the action, but later on, he saw him, gobbling on a pile of Oran berries. Philipp nudged Wallace, and pointed at Dave.

"And at first, I thought Dave hated those things!" Wallace said, with a smile in his face. He looked hard at the pile of Oran berries, and he noticed that not all of the berries were round and blue. He saw a couple that were red and yellow with green leaves on the top, and another small batch that had a black and white design.

"Hey, Philipp, what are those berries?" Wallace asked, pointing at the black and white berries.

"Those," Philipp replied, "are Leppa berries, they restore your strength and ener—"

"No, I know those kinds of berries! What I am asking about are the berries over there!"

"Oh, you mean those berries that look like black berries with cream?"

"Well, sort of like that."

"Those berries are Enigma berries. They restore much of your strength and well-being when you're hit by a super-effective move."

Wallace looked at the fight between William and Gardenia and her Turtwig. "I wonder why she'd plant trees and plants that will produce berries that help the one fighting her."

"Whoa! Something's going over there!" Mackie shouted from above. Everyone on the seats turned their attention to something massive that took Dave's place.

* * *

William was pretty banged up, and he seemed to be losing. If Dave didn't come back to the fray soon, he'd probably faint. He opened his mouth again, and another ball of water was coming up. He let go of the ball of water, but he knew his strength was giving out. _Dave, where are you at a time like this! I don't think I can win against her!_

The ball of water hit the duo of Turtwig directly, but they seem to be scathed lightly. Gardenia, recovering from the Water Pulse, shouted at William, looking at something rapidly overshadowing them. "Look!"

William looked back, and he opened his mouth once again, but in amazement.


	23. Red Tide

**Chapter 22**

**Red Tide**

_"_Don't use words too big for the subject. Don't say 'infinitely' when you mean 'very'; otherwise you'll have no word left when you want to talk about something really infinite." ~ C.S. Lewis

* * *

It was big. It was large, both in height and width. It was menacing. It was moving—fast. It threatened to cover the whole battlefield. It threatened to end the battle in one, single sweep. And Dave was surfing on the top of it, with a come-and-get-me look for Gardenia. William—just standing (on all fours) in amazement—Philipp, Peter, Mary, Frank, Clive, Wallace, Mark, Anne, Nicolas, and Mackie—put short, the whole team—were all in fear in suspense. What if Gardenia and her Turtwig would pull a surprise move? Or even worse—drown in the wave altogether? Surely, they don't think Dave would want to kill anyone, much less a gym leader at that. But it seemed like overkill. Of course, her Turtwig—and, for now, herself—were Grass-type, but Surf was a really powerful move. But one question lingered on their minds: How was Dave able to learn that move with seemingly no use of a Hidden Machine—or HM for short?

The answer can come later for them; right now, there was a battle to finish for Dave and William—and, of course, for the rest of the team. And from the looks of it, Dave was eager to finish it—fast. They all hoped he can stop any further damage when the wave hits Gardenia and her Turtwig. All he had to do was "to make them so tired out and in pain that they wouldn't want to go further in battle so they'll give up." So states Wallace, as he tries his best to assure those around him, yet, showing a face that did not look assured. And those around him still showed faces of fright. But the wave was moving quickly, so he attempted to clarify his point in the fewest amount of words and in his fastest talking speed. That, with the view of a giant wave rising and about to collapse, made the scene look like a soldier telling his ally crucial information in the midst of heavy fire. "I understand that if a Pokemon faints, it's just that. The Pokemon can regain consciousness by staying in his Pokeball, going to the Pokemon Center, and so on. But, we don't know about Pokemon—I mean, those like us. We may have a body of a Pokemon, but I'm not sure if we're going to react like natural Pokemon in situations like these."

But Anne decided to put some more sense in it, as fast as she could. "But, you said we have a body of a Pokemon. And when they faint, they just lose consciousness. So, they just lose so much energy, they just faint. And, if someone faints from exercising too much, he faints, but does that mean he's dead? No, end of discussion." Mackie and Nicolas sighed in relief, and the others kept the relief to themselves, and their faces.

Wallace thought about it for a while—and it was short, considering the speed of the wave. Good thing the field of battle was massive and wide. But, it still was coming fast. Now, he had no time to speak a full sentence. He just hoped Anne was right, that fainting was the same, no matter what specices you are. Besides, all he could do now was hope.

* * *

Dave was now so close to gaining the second badge, the Forest Badge—and it was hard to believe—two badges in two days, and to top that off, they were Pokemon for only four days. At this rate, he thought, he, along with the others, could defeat all eight gyms in just around three weeks. And in his opinion, it looked like some clumsy trainer accidentally and unknowingly dropped the Hidden Machine in an obscure bush. It's as if everything in this battle was finally going his way. Leaving William behind might look bad to the others, but, it was for the team. William _did_ help Dave fight Gardenia and her partner Turtwig, and Dave _did_ help William do the same. That is why it is called a tag team. Someone tags a friend, and the friend tags that someone back. But Dave thought he saved William a lot of work, thought he saved him the fighting big time.

And, it was now or never. It was easy to learn the move, but it drained a lot of his energy. After this move, he will have virtually no energy left to battle, leaving William to do the rest—if the powerful wave somehow did not defeat Gardenia. He calculated his strategy and his energy, and, from the looks of it, he has only enough room left for one move before he is too tired, or worse—before he faints.

As the wave finally closed in on the two Turtwig, he thought to himself, _So this is it. It's all going to end, and we're going to win the Forest Badge! Which means, two down, six more badges to go! _He was never able to experience that kind of anticipation and expectation of being so close to victory. And he _was _so close, closer than he thought.

* * *

Out of instinct, Gardenia absorbed the energy of some of the water as she and her Turtwig got hit by the wave. They landed on the side of the trunk of a tree, deep in their side of the field. At least the energy gave them enough strength to continue, but they both agreed to stay down to deceive Dave and William for a surprise attack, as they attempted to crawl to several hiding spots, waiting for the other team to fall into their next move. They moved close, and hid just meters from each other, hoping that teamwork, combined with a fiery will to battle and communication with Pokemon would at least hinder the other team.

* * *

When the wave hit, the waters started to rise. Wallace led the others on the benches as they climbed their way to higher ground to avoid drowning in the rising flood. Some reached their hands to help others who did not have long arms and hands. Mark and Peter, being Fire-types, were extra careful not to fall down and go down to the flood. They were scared that they might faint, especially Peter, now the timid type because of being a Cyndaquil.

"Let me do weather control! I'll check the fighters!" Shouted Mackie for the whole group to hear, as he began flying above the ravaged and pilaged field of battle. He heard many loud replied from the team, mostly about "not crashing! Just don't fall down!" as Mark put it. Simply, he replied, "Don't worry about me! I'll be okay!" assuring them that he won't fall, in spite of his inexperience in flying.

He became amazed when he got a clear bird's eye view of the scene. The waters filled the floors, and it went beyond the field, going to the rest of the ground floor. Even without looking, he knew that the other areas of the gym would take a while to fix and dry. Even with the sun shining through specially-made glass, it will take many hours, if not a few days or even weeks, he thought, for the waters to recede.

Then, Mackie looked at the field itself. He examined it, and indeed, it was severely damaged. Most of the bushes were already pouring out water, and all the dry berries went muddy and mushy. The flowers looked wet, as if a storm came in side the gym. He saw most of the trees losing a lot of their leaves like it was autumn, but with no sign of any of the trees actually losing all of their leaves; dozen or so trees with many of their branches lost; half a dozen or so trees with their trunks noticeably damaged; and he even discovered that one or two trees were uprooted. Mackie knew that although the plants and grass were helping in absorbing the water, they might not be benefitting from it, since there was so much water. So powerful was the mightiness of Surf, for it had the strength of a single storm. It was even worse than he thought it could be. He hoped that Gardenia would not turn mad at Dave, knowing that many of her plants were about ruined.

He became even more amazed when he realized that he was already flying like a natural Chatot. Earlier, he was flying way too fast, thus, crashing into Anne. Now, he was flying like a real Chatot. In such a short time, he asked himself, how could he gain so much experience in being a Pokemon—or at least in flying as a Chatot? The transformation was starting to go from the outside to the inside. His voice is already so nasal, but it might not stop there.

And he had to consider: Why do some of the others on the benches protest against a _good_ change in their personality. To him, it's pretty much normal for people like him to react shockingly when they have been transformed into Pokemon—it's a dream come true for some, and a nightmare come true for others; besides, changing into another species is something rare, indeed. But what does _not_ make sense to him is the resistance to _good_ change. He made a mental note to himself to bring the topic up to the Wallace and the others in their next meeting.

* * *

The referee looked intently at the damage of the field. Although tag battles in gym battle were now legalized by the official league (as long as the challengers would either share the badge, or get two badges if they both won, but one only if one of the challengers lost with all of his Pokemon), he still knew that tag battle would be deadly, especially against a gym leader, and especially against a Pokemon with a Hidden Machine.

The trees lost a lot of their leaves, though any sign of them going leafless was not noticeable. Some of the trees already had cuts on their trunks because of the tremendous straining caused by the wave. A lot of the flowers were soaked, and many of the dry berries turned soggy and squashy. The grass was filled with so much water, so was the soil underneath. As the flood receded, he saw William quietly navigating his way throughout the now ravaged battleground, occasionally picking up a fallen branch to see if Dave or Gardenia or her partner was there. It was good that it was a grassy battlefield, because the soil absorbed the water a lot more quickly, not to mention make the grass healthier unless there was too much water.

Dave surviving his own attack plus the lack of energy in his body would take a lot of strength to muster, not to mention the irony to use strength while not having energy. And the referee assumed that William was growing more desperate with each step, with each branch, bush, and any other hiding place that did not hid Dave. And as time passed, he tried faster and faster, all just to find Dave. If this kept going, with Dave not found as of now, the referee might have to postpone battle.

* * *

"There you are!" Shouted William as he lifted a bunch of thick branches and saw someone, glad to know it was not just a something. "Dave, wake up please!" He started to shout at the someone, but it did not work. He picked a branch, and poked him...or her, if it was Gardenia. And William sure did not want to be unfortunate enough to fall into a surprise attack of response so far, so he poked again. No response, again. "Hey, are you still awake?"

Then, he saw two glowing, green eyes. He was spooked and felt something was trying to grab his feet. He looked down. It was the grass. He knew what move was attacking him. And surely, Dave, even though he can learn that move, would not possibly use this move, or any move for that matter, against him. It was Grass Knot."Oh no! You're either Gardenia, or the other Turtwig!" Too late to say that. He stepped back, tripped, and fell down. It did little damage though, for William was very light.

"You're right, William," said the Turtwig, as he pushed himself out of the cluster of branches. William, while he was tangled and struggling, looked at the Turtwig as he lowered his head, making his sprout face him.

_Oh no..._William thought, as he prepared for whatever the Turtwig had up his sleeve, not knowing whether he had any power to resist the attack or not.

From the Turtwig's sprout came out a seed, falling into William's body. William knew all too well what it was. Leech Seed. And how was he going to remove it? The only ways he knew how to remove were to put a Pokemon inside a Poke ball or use the move Haze. Both were bad ideas; he was scared of being captured, changed into some red plasma energy, and staying in the Poke ball for maybe long periods of time. And he knew that, being a Mudkip, he can not learn Haze. It was not in a Technical or Hidden Machine, or not gained through breeding. Even if he was a Mudkip all his life, he could not learn Haze.

Alas, he felt his energy draining every few seconds, albeit it was in small quantities. The longer the seed leeches the energy out of him, the more tired he became, the more determined he was going to win the gym battle. If only Dave was here, it would be a lot more easier, fighting one Turtwig and not knowing where Gardenia is.

Then, a fear started to be instilled in him. What if Dave was down for the count? What if he lost all of his energy making that enormous wave? Or even worse—did he faint? Even if he did not say it out load, he knew Dave was _very_ afraid of dying, and he had the misunderstood perspsective of fainting as dying. Yes, William knew it was misunderstood. No time to think about it, for now; he had a gym battle to continue.

"Water Gun!" he exclaimed,whilst he shot out a strong stream of water from his mouth at the Turtwig. The water hit him with force, but it had little effect on him—he was a Grass-type, after all; but it took him a while to ready his next move. William was not discouraged by type disadvantage.

"Then, a Mud-Slap!" shouted he, as he turned his back on Gardenia's Turtwig, and started kicking up lumps of mud at him, affecting his vision temporarily along with the physical damage. _Now that's going to keep him busy for a while,_ he thought.

The Turtwig swung his head, firing razor-sharp leaves from the leaves on his sprout on his head, trying to aim at William, moving left and right quickly, but with all the mud blocking his vision, he missed. Once his vision was cleared, he saw clearly what was coming for him: William was coming straight at him, about to tackle him. He said, in a mocking voice, "As they say, 'Stick together'!"

William, running to tackle him, was confused. Why did he say it? Too late to think more about it; he got hit by someone tackling at _him._He felt the pain from his left side. Seconds later, he saw who tackled him: Gardenia.

"You're very good, aren't you?" he heard Gardenia say. "But it's not over! Leaf Storm!" William watched as she lifted her head, and many leaves start to spiral around her like a tornado. She then points her head towards him, ready to fire. William, who was ready to dodge it, was too slow to dodge the storm of leaves. He was now hurt heavily, but his will remained strong. He still wanted to fight, in spite of the circumstances. But whatever move they had left, it might be the last before he and Dave loses. _Speaking of Dave, _he thought, _where in the world is that guy?_

As if on cue, he heard a distinct, yet, now rough voice above the trees, shouting, "Hey, Willie! You're in trouble?" It was Dave.

Dave, Gardenia, and her Turtwig looked everywhere to find where Dave is. To William, it seemed very close by. Then, out of the blue, he felt a hard thump on his right side. He took a last glance at the other two, about to look back to William. He immediately looked right and, right beside him, was a Mago Berry. He knew what to do with it. As he chewed on the sweet berry, he only hoped it would give him enough energy and strength to continue and finish the battle.

His hopes were lifted up when he felt the energy come back to him, but as it came back to him, it started to drain faintly from him. How could he forget that he still had a leech seed? He had to use his power wisely; otherwise, he will lose, perhaps foolishly.

He started with another Water Gun, forcefully shooting out water from his mouth at both of the Turtwig. Then, shaking his head, preaparing for another move, he charged at Gardenia, giving her and her partner no time to get ready for what is next. She, was barely back on her feet when she saw William

"Now, for a finishing touch!" he yelled, as he forcibly spat out a stream of water again at Gardenia and her Turtwig. With them on an even level, each side had almost equal sides onwinning. If Dave was with William, of course.

William wondered where Dave is, and more importantly, why is he not coming out? _Perhaps he's about burned out from that massive Surf, _William supposed. But, if he was burned out, how was he able to shout at him and throw a berry at him? Maybe he still had enough strength for one more move. And it was crucial that he save that energy for the final minutes of the battle. If he did have enough strength.

Now, William was now alone, against the gym leader and her Pokemon, both having a type advantage over him, plus a leech seed planted in his body was sucking all his vitality, piece by piece. It was now their turn to attack. Unless Dave would step in and intervene, William would lose for sure. He got all four of his legs ready to dodge any attack they have up their sleeves, though it appeared pointless, for he looked a little pale.

Her Turtwig charged at William, who seemed prepared to dodge. As he was near William, the Mudkip dodged left to avoid the attack, but the Turtwig made a quick turn to the left and bit him with his teeth.

William yelped in pain. He could have been paralyzed; he was not. But, with the leech seed sapping up his energy to possibly no end, he felt burned out. _This might've been what Dave felt._

It was now Gardenia's turn to attack. She was ready to swing her head, and throw out the razor-sharp leaves at William. She was ready to bring in the final blow to William. But she heard the sound of rushing waters.

"What the?" She rhetorically asked. Seconds later, she, along with her Turtwig, was in the flood of water. William looked behind Gardenia and the surprised Turtwig and saw who caused the water. It was Dave, but he did not look as eager as before. He still had the smile on his face...just before he fell out of exhaustion...and, much to the dismay of Wallace and some of the others on the benches, fainted.

Much to William's disappointment, Gardenia and her Turtwig were back on their feet as quickly as they fell for the waters. "You thought you got us trapped?" Gardenia kind of mocked, as she stood on her four, short feet. To William, they seemed ready to strike again. Yet, he _still _had the leech seed inside him.

Rejuvenated from Dave's selfless act and his fainting, he started to brace himself for the remaining attacks. As Gardenia tackled him and her partner bit him once again, William did his best to dodge the moves in his battered state, and whenever he was hit, he would feel the pain turning into power inside him, but he can not attack them back... yet.

Until now. The Leech Seed was unknowingly depleting his health for his benefit. The powerful Bide was about to be released, and it might be a potent and powerful finish to the gym battle. His body started to be covered by a white, glowing spheric aura, and out it shot, shouting, and of course, a white beam filled with all the power of the attacks he endured. And the white beam hit Gardenia. No other sound came from the benches, nor from Mackie flying over the field, nor from anything else. When it was over, her Turtwig was surprised that his own trainer—yes, his _own trainer_—fainted. It appeared to go beyond his comprehension, despite the fact that his trainer was now a Pokemon, and the fact that it was just fainting, not something more serious.

* * *

The referee wondered if he should stop the battle. Two Pokemon, one from each side, have already fainted, and the other two were battling in a now razed battlefield. He sighed, wondering how he was going to explain it to Gardenia that her beautiful field now looked like a wasteland.

* * *

William, now with the battlefield really leveled, he chose to pull up his own trick. He ran to the bushes, with the Turtwig following his tail. William, hidden in the bushes, crawled back...to the Mago Berry. Now half-eaten, he ate the rest of the berry. With his vitality and vigor back on track, he readily faced the Turtwig's razor leaves. With the opponent's turn over, William finally finished him with one last Water Gun. He, along with Gardenia, lost to the challengers. Wallace, Mark, and the others cheered in happiness as they got their second badge.

"Gardenia and her Turtwig is down," proclaimed the referee, "the winners are the challengers, Dave and William. Gardenia herself will give you the badge—when she recovers from this."

That's when Wallace, sobered from the referee's statement, brought up his idea, obvious as it is, "Well, let's bring Gardenia and Dave to the Pokemon Center."

* * *

As they walked to the now soaked anteroom, Peter, avoiding the water as much as he can, thought out loud, "What's it like, to be the Pokemon in a Pokemon Center? What's it like to be healed by those machine things meant for a Pokemon's health?"

Mark answered cheerily, "Why won't you try asking them when they wake up?"


	24. Ideality

**Chapter 23**

**Ideality**

_"Every obnoxious act is a cry for help" ~ Zig Ziglar_

* * *

"Ugh...my head," Dave said as he woke up. As he slowly opened his eyes, he saw that he was in a completely different environment. All the flora, grass, trees and plants were not there anymore. In place of them was a modern, metallic room. He looked around, and he saw that he was on a bed. A medical bed at that.

"...What?" he said out of the blue. The moment he could remember before he blacked out was William standing there, on a grassy battlefield. Anything else after that—he could not remember.

He looked at his right to see a Turtwig on a similar medical bed. The Turtwig seemed to be OK, like Dave. And like Dave, it was awake. Knowing Dave was looking at the Turtwig, it winked at him, assuring Dave that it was fine. Beyond that, he saw a blueish-white wall filled with cabinets.

On the other side, he saw another wall with a double door. He also saw a Turtwig, and there was no other patient after that one also. But the condition of that Turtwig appeared worse than Dave's. It was already hooked up to an IV, albeit it did not seem alarming to him, and that Turtwig was not awake yet. Dave hoped it was not Gardenia. Putting a gym leader out of comission, even for a short while, was not on his mind when he made that massive wave. That was not also on his mind when he made another wave before he fainted. But the feelings of having knocked out a gym leader were fear and anxiety—two feelings Dave did not want to have in his heart right now.

It was now clear to him that he was in a Pokemon Center. As far as he knew, there was no other official place for Pokemon to be healed than the Pokemon Center. And from the Pokemon that the local Nurse Joys own—which are mostly Chansey—it looked to him that if a Chansey was ever in sight, it's kind of likely that it used to be a human, but also a lot more likely that it still works as a nurse.

Minutes later, he was proven right. The door opened and a Chansey with a small, white hat bearing a red cross. She held a list on her arm in spite of its short length. "Do you feel OK?" she asked all three patients, Dave included.

"Yes, I am OK, Nurse Joy," The Turtwig to Dave's right spoke. That made Dave dread with fear. It was not Gardenia's voice. It was the voice of _her_ Turtwig, not the gym leader herself. It meant only one thing to him: The Turtwig to his left was Gardenia. And with seeing Gardenia—or any gym leader for that matter—being unconscious by his own doing, he was scared. What would she say to him? Would he scold him? With her kind and forgiving personality, she would not be likely to scold him. But knocking her out in a Pokemon battle, even with everyone—almost everyone—as a Pokemon for already four days—and surely, no one in the group knew how long they will stay like this, if they will ever get back to being human, that is—he could not think she could be _that _forgiving. Then again, it was an official gym battle. The pain was part of battling as a Pokemon. And in most, if not all, battles, Pokemon fainting was also part of battling. And fainting did not lead to death, unless, of course, something fatal happened in the process. Fainting was simple to understand to many people: Passing out and being unconscious because of losing too much energy. It did not have the same definition as death, but to Dave, it did feel a lot like it. Especially now.

"Yoo-hoo, Dave." Nurse Joy spoke once again, trying to snap Dave out of his thoughts. Dave finally noticed Nurse Joy. He replied, "Yes, I am fine. It's just, are you sure Gardenia will be alright?"

"Yes, she will be fine," Nurse Joy answered assuredly, then added, "However, she might need to stay here for a bit longer because of what you did to her. But it was an official Pokemon battle after all, and since we're all Pokemon, I think you had no choice if you wanted those badges and to fight the gym leaders. You could've brought your Pokemon with you and battle others with your Pokemon, but it seems very awkward. At least very awkward to me."

Dave was thankful that Gardenia was not in much of a severe problem or ailment, even though he was the one who caused her so much pain. He asked one more time, "How long will you think she has to stay here?"

"About 30 minutes or so, Dave," Nurse Joy answered cheerily. "Besides, it isn't that much time to wait by."

Dave nodded. "At least we all know she will be OK in a while."

"I'll be checking the other Pokemon," Nurse Joy said as she left the room, "and that also includes Pokemon like you, 'former humans' as some would say."

Before she could leave, he told her, "Wait!"

"What now, Dave?" Nurse Joy asked as she turned around, looking at Dave.

"My friends—are my friends there, in the center too?" Dave requested pleadingly. "Are they at least in the hallway or lobby? I want to speak with them."

"Oh my, I think they left. They are not in the hallway from the last time I checked, and I have not checked the lobby for some time. Would you like me to tell you if they are here?"

"Yes, Nurse Joy. That would be really nice for me," Dave answered. Then, Nurse Joy left the room.

* * *

It was a good thing for them the hallways of the Pokemon Center always had a long row of seats opposite of the room of the patients. The hallways appeared so numerous, it was as if Palkia had distorted the space of the seemingly small exterior of the Pokemon Center. Then again, they _were _small Pokemon after all. The hallways were big from their view. And so were the chairs. Having to climb up the chairs to be able to sit on them was not comfortable, but as Clive put it as he sighed in relief when he finally sat on the chair, "at least it's worth it!" Some were silently envious at Anne, because she is able to levitate and land on the seats.

And others were soundlessly jealous of Mackie, though, since he can just fly and land on the seats. And he was already flying just like a natural Chatot, only in the course of four days. _That reminds me; gotta talk to them in their next meeting or group talk or whatever they call it._

"Hey, there's a snack machine!" Mark shouted, seeing the snack machine only a few chairs away.

"Sshh! There are other Pokemon sleeping in here, and we would not want to wake them up," Wallace scolded at him, "even if the walls look soundproof, talk normally as if the walls weren't soundproof."

"OK, OK, I stand corrected, Wally-Turtwig!" Mark quickly apologized, but covering his mouth when he realized what he called Wallace.

Wallace looked at Mark. "Four days, and the mental changes and the personal changes have already started to creep in, at least in Mark." He looked at the others. "Watch out too, you may be already slowly changing without even knowing it." He looked back at Mark. "And about the snack machine; you do realize we did not bring any money with us, didn't you? I thought the berries were enough for you! I don't think it's a good idea to eat human food while we're Pokemon. It might make us sick."

"Wait a minute," Philipp broke in, " so that means you left wherever you settled in Sinnoh without any money to bring with you, right?"

Wallace left the conversation silent for a while. When everyone looked at him, including Mark, he finally said "Yes," admitting it all with an embarassed look on his face. "It looks like we sort of rushed out of our room when Mark burned our penthouse room. Which means we forgot our money, our Pokemon in our Poke balls—wait, our Pokemon!"

"Oh no," Frank began when he remembered something, "I forgot my Pokemon too!" He looked at his friends while keeping his cool. "You didn't forgot yours, did you?" He asked calmly with a straight posture, wheras he could have asked in panic—had he not been transformed into a Treecko. And here he was, not notcing the slow change of personality.

William and Clive shook their heads in unison, showing and admitting to him that they forgot to bring their Poke Balls.

"Was I supposed to bring them?" Anne asked, "Because if I'm supposed to, then I'm in big trouble—My Pokemon are inside my house at Celestic Town!" She was about to scream, when she remembered that Pokemon were sleeping on the opposite side of the wall. Calming herself down, she continued "Is there somebody here who brought any Poke Balls?"

Nicolas looked at the others nervously. "Heh-heh...I did not bring them too. I thought that, since we're the Pokemon now, I left them there and promised myself I'll open them when I return home."

Mackie was next to confess. "Sorry guys! I forgot to bring any Poke Balls from my house too. It is small, so they should've been easy to spot. But when I wanted to see you fight Gardenia, I guess I was too fast when I started to fly."

Wallace looked at the last three who had not said anything about bringing—or not bringing—their Pokemon with them. "Did you bring at least _one _Poke Ball with you?"

Everyone's eyes were on Philipp; even Peter and Mary were looking at him. He _is _the voice of reason after all. Peter, being a Cyndaquil, was already timid, straying from his strong and courageous personality as a human. Mary, not wanting to put up a fight, did not take the risk to speak from her point of view. Which left Philipp to speak to them.

"Oh yeah sure, we forgot our Poke Balls too—" Philipp spoke in a slightly solemn voice."In our picnic basket back at the lobby!" He exclaimed in a surprising tone.

"What!" Almost everyone—except Wallace, Frank, Peter and Mary—shouted in surprise. With so many not bringing their Pokemon with them, they were clearly astonished Philipp had remembered. The other four who did not exclaim out loud just kept it in their head.

"Sure, unlike you people, who trained yourselves and desiring to battle first-hand," Philipp began, "we all agreed from day one of the transformations that we talk to them frequently, and even learn a move or two from them occasionally. We left them in their Poke Balls in our picnic basket, since it was very big. We also agreed that, once we get used to being a Pokemon, we should let them out completely, only putting them inside their respective Poke Balls under certain emergencies. So far, we are going well with them, though we are not fully used with our Pokemon bodies and Pokemon instincts and all that. So, how is that for talking to your Pokemon?"

"I wish you were with us when we became Pokemon overnight," Wallace spoke in amazement, "then, all of us could have been a whole lot more friendly and close to our Pokemon than before."

"Well, I can respect all of you forgetting your Poke Balls in a rush." Philipp said, then asked, "You want me to bring them to you?"

"Let's get them all together!" William happily shouted, as they all agreed to get the picnic basket back at the Eterna City Gym. Then they went out the Pokemon Center.

And as if on cue, a Chansey came out of the room where Dave was staying. "Hm? I thought I heard something here."

* * *

Not much has changed when the entered the gym and into the anteroom. The whole ground level was flooded with water, and on the actual battlefield, they could see the referee doing his best to drain the whole water using the drainages.

"I guess that will take him forever to clean up!" Mark commented mockingly. Everyone else shushed him. When they were close to the glass door, they could see the benches. They could see something in the distance, albeit faintly, resting on one of the topmost benches.

"That's our picnic basket!" Philipp, pointing with his finger at the faraway picnic basket, shouted loudly. A bit too loudly.

The loud shout alerted the referee, even if seperated by a glass door and a slightly long walking distance. "Oh great, he spotted us! He's coming for us!"

"He's a referee, Philipp," Wallace said calmly, "he can understand why we need to go in."

Everyone waited for him, some dreaded him as he came closer. It did take a long time, for the referee could not traverse the deep water that well. Then, he opened the glass door with difficulty and a clearly annoyed face.

"Why are you here again?" the referee asked loudly, clearly intimidated by their coming plus all the stress from cleaning up the gym, "Aren't you the same ones who sent the gym leader to the Pokemon Center? If you want to battle her, you can't. Until I hear she's well, you can't battle her."

"We are not here for a battle, referee sir," Wallace spoke with boldness. "We've come to get something we left here."

After realizing that, the referee regained his calm, unagitated posture. He replied, "Then you need a Pokemon who can either swim or fly to wherever you lost it. The _two _waves Dave caused back there were so deep and severe, not all Pokemon can walk on this kind of terrain." The referee looked at Mackie with expectations. "You're a Chatot, right?"

"Yes sir," Mackie boldly replied, "and I'm proud of being a Chatot!"

"Well, Chatot like you can fly, which is pretty obvious because you have wings. Whatever you or your friends left, fly to it. Just hope it didn't get washed up by the flood. It's going to be frustrating if that something you left has already been drifting in the waters for a while. OK?"

"OK!" shouted Mackie, running to the entrance door of the gym, then running to get some speed, and then he flew.

He felt as if feeling was already a natural habit, if not part of his daily life. He flew to the benches, and saw the picnic basket on one of the high benches.

"Hm, what if I try grabbing it with my beak?" He thought out loud to himself. "It can't be that hard. The handle of the basket looks small enough for me to grab."

He approached the picnic basket at great speeds, but at a split second, he saw that it was not one handle but two handles. Although both of them were small enough for him to grab, he was only able to grab one. He flew upwards again, but with difficulty. The basket tilted and some berries fell from the basket to the water.

"Hey!" Peter cried out to the flying Mackie, "Our Pokemon are there!"

"Your friend Philipp told all of us that already!" Mackie shouted back, clearly irritated and stressed by the task at hand.

"But, my Pokemon there is a Cyndaquil! Like me!" Peter yelled at him. "He's not just a Fire-type; he's also very timid!"

Mackie let it sink in for a moment. _Oh great, a Cyndaquil is in the basket!_ Mackie thought. _I have to be really careful. What if he comes out when he's in the water?_ He visualized the scene, with a Cyndaquil drowning in the water, desperately crying for help. _Oh no, not a good scenario. _He slowed his flying, doing his best to keep the basket from tilting any further.

He was flying towards the door, thankful that he was almost there. The glass door was open and dropped the basket right on time, but left himself flying towards the entrance. He went through the entrance and flew out of the gym, and almost crashed, had he not spread his wings again. He flew towards the sky, then went down. He slowed his descent, and finally landed and perched on a nearby tree.

However, the others did not see if Mackie made it. "Mackie!" Nicolas shouted, as he and the rest went out. He stopped and turned to the referee. "Are you going to go with us?"

"No, I'm not." The referee responded. "I have a much greater work to do: Cleaning up this enormous gym."

"I can see that. Well, see you soon!" Nicolas spoke loudly and a bit happily as he ran out of the gym.

* * *

"...almost crashed! It's like I was flying like a natural, genuine Chatot almost all the time I flew. And I was getting better every time I flew. But, don't worry; I am still fine."

Nicolas ran to the rest of the group, who were listening to Mackie, who was assuring them that he was all right.

"What did I miss?" asked Nicolas, as he gasped for air.

"You can just say that I was removing their worries about me," Mackie explained.

"And," Wallace added, "we'll have to explain about this later. For now, let's go back to the Pokemon Center and we'll open the Poke Balls there."

* * *

Dave looked at the clock. Thirty minutes had already passed, but Gardenia had not woken up yet. And there were no immediate signs she would now. Of course, Nurse Joy did not say _exactly _30 minutes. She said _about _30 minutes. Or so. But Dave just wanted her to wake up now. He wanted to hear that she was fine and well, that she is still as healthy—and probably as active—as she was hours earlier, when Dave, partnered with William, was about to fight her and her Turtwig.

The door opened slightly, and he could see Nurse Joy, although partially.

"Dave, your friends are here;" informed Nurse Joy, "Would you want to talk to them?"

"Yes, I'd like to talk to them." Dave answered. "Let them in."

Nurse Joy closed the door, and Dave could hear some talking, although it was too muffled to hear it clearly. Then, the double doors opened and out came his friends. Mackie came in the room flying.

"Hi Dave! How're you doing?" Mackie happily asked.

"I'm just fine, and Gardenia's Turtwig over there—" Dave faced at and pointed at the Turtwing on his right, "is all right, although he wants to remain silent for now."

Mackie, still flapping his wings, looked at the Turtwig, then looked at the other Turtwig, the one connected to the IV. "Hold on, if the one to your right is her Turtwig, then the sleeping one is...Gardenia herself?"

"Sad to say, yes," Dave said solemnly.

"And you're worrying so much about her?" Wallace asked.

"Yes. I did not mean to cause so much damage to her that she is connected to an IV machine. But, hey, it's still a Pokemon battle, right?" Dave said, winking at Wallace after the last word.

"Yes, but, won't many Pokemon be affected from so many Pokemon battles at a time?" Wallace questioned.

"And oh, Dave," Philipp said, raising his voice, "look at our Pokemon!" He threw them up into the air. The Poke Balls opened, releasing red, plasma energy and the energy changed into the three Johto starter Pokemon: a Chikorita, a Cyndaquil, and a Totodile.

"Hey, where is Peter?" the Cyndaquil asked.

"Cyndaquil!" Peter shouted, as he ran into his own Cyndaquil.

"Chikorita, I am here!" Mary said loudly, seeing her own Chikorita nearby.

"Totodile, come to me!" Philipp spoke out loud when he saw his Totodile.

The little reunion between Pokemon and trainer was comforting—even though the trainers were now also Pokemon. It looked a lot like a family reunion.

"That is so nice—with both trainer and Pokemon truly talking with each other," Gardenia's Turtwig said calmly to the many friends, "being able to understand the other is a happy feeling, isn't it?"

Mary, Peter, and Philipp went outside to talk with their respective Pokemon. Anne closed the doors. That left the others in the room. Wallace walked towards Dave's bed.

"Dave, listen to me," Wallace requested, "there are three things we have to talk about. First, let's make a promise."

"Yeah, sure Wally," Dave replied, "anything you want."

"When we come back to our penthouse room in the hotel at Jubilife City—that is, if we can still go there—let's get a bag, and put our Poke Balls in it. I'm worried sick about my Pokemon already."

"Well, don't be worried, Wally! You and I and Mark are brothers, so as long as we stay together, no matter how long is the distance that seperates us physcially, we're still together. Right Mark?"

"Oh yeah, I agree with you!" Mark shouted happily as he jumped on Dave's bed.

"And the second thing, it concerns us, Frank, William, Clive, and the rest. We're going to talk about this tonight. I'm just reminding you about this."

"OK," Dave said, agreeing with everything his brother said so far, "so what's the third thing?"

Wallace turned to Mackie. "Mackie, fly all the way to Floaroma Town, tell the acting leader of the Pokemon station to get to Eterna City as fast as they can. Tell him to not leave anyone behind."

Mackie did a double take. "You sure, Wallace? It's pretty far from here."

"It's longer if you did not have wings. Just fly over the trees, rivers, buildings and mountains. It isn't that hard, now that you can fly like a true Chatot."

"All right, sir!" Mackie said. He saluted Wallace, and flew out of the room, and out of the Pokemon Center.

"Militaristic? Maybe." Mark joked.

"Wait a minute, Wallace," Dave said in a surprised tone, "we forgot the Pokemon station and its members?"

"Yes. Sorry Dave, looks like we forgot about them after we left Floaroma town."

"And I was supposed to remind you," Frank said, wondering how he could forget such a simple task, "but it slipped out of my mind!"

"You _really _forgot to remind us that?" Wallace asked in a suspecting manner.

"Um...yeah; sorry about that, Wallace," Frank apologized.

"That's going to be one massive undertaking," commented Dave, "can they pull it off in one try?"

"Without losing anyone?" Wallace said. "We have so many who wanted to join our Pokemon Station that they can defend themselves. We already have some powerful ones in the Station."

"None of them a legendary; I'm sure of that," Mark remarked, with a grin on his face.

"Of course not," responded Wallace, "surely, we don't have anyone who is a Mew here, or a Manaphy, or even a Phione for that matter. However, we do have people who were transformed into powerful, yet non-legendary Pokemon. We have a Mawile, some Poochyena brothers, and some others."

"They don't seem or sound powerful to me," Mark commented blatantly.

"At least we have some strong Pokemon in the Station—I've seen them under training and they're really good!"

"Well, I'm trusting you that they're strong as you think they are," Mark said, with a quick change of demeanor. "Um...when do you think they'll come here?"

"One or two days...maybe three. Can't possibly be four or more, unless they have a problem."

Then, they heard a groan. It came from Gardenia.

"She's waking up!" Dave exclaimed as Gardenia opened her eyes.


	25. Rhye

**Chapter 24**

**Rhye**

_"A man who wants to lead the orchestra must turn his back on the crowd." ~Max Lucado_

* * *

Small wonder. Dave was the one who made her like this. Fear struck him as she began to rise. He wanted to get out of his bed, cower and hide, but his new personality got the better of him and made him stay there. His new personality did not want him to look like a coward.

As she woke up, Gardenia noticed that she was not in her gym anymore. She was now in a Pokemon Center. Feeling rejuvenated from the rest she had gotten, she finally became fully aware of her surroundings. First, she looked what was connected to her: An IV. She gasped in surprise, astonished that she was hurt so badly that she needed an IV. Immediately she noticed the group of friends that appeared earlier, especially the very two Pokemon that fought her as challengers, and strangely, as Pokemon trainers yearning for not just badges, but for the fun of battling itself.

Small wonder. Had it been any time farther than four days ago, she finally realized, she would only experience Pokemon battles second-hand. Even though the trainers were mostly controlling their Pokemon in battles, they were only like hurriedly-drafted generals and commanders in a war, sitting on their tables, spreading out a map and planning out strategies beforehand, not knowing what it feels like to be the actual soldiers fighting in the actual battlefield.

"Um...hello, Gardenia..." Dave greeted shyly, hoping she won't get angry over her fainting and the fact that she's connected to an IV.

"Your...two waves..." Gardenia managed, "...they, made me so hurt..."

"I-I-I k-know..." Dave stuttered, wondering if she might catch him by surprise, unleashing her anger, even though Dave knew better.

"That...was fun!" Gardenia shouted in excitement.

"What!" Dave and Mark shouted in astonishment. Everyone else in the room exclaimed in surprise too. They were indeed surprised. How could she be so excited, even during the time that she got hit by Dave's two massive waves? How could she be so happy even through pains like that? Then again, she _is _a gym leader. They knew that she knew better through experience as a gym leader.

"Haven't you learned it yet?" Gardenia asked rhetorically.

"Wait, are we missing something here?" Wallace asked, wondering what was he and the rest not learning.

"Put simply, the more pain a Pokemon endures, that Pokemon grows stronger. Sure, Pokemon become strong through victories, but it learns more through its losses. I call it 'Growing Pains.' Get it? Because I specialize in Grass-type Pokemon, and I'm a Grass-type Pokemon myself! And Grass-type Pokemon 'grow' in a sense, because they're like grass and plants. Now, do you get it?"

"Yes, I think we all get it," Wallace answered. He faced the rest of his friends. "Do you all get it?"

"Um, I think so," Mark simply replied.

"I get it too!" Dave answered happily.

"Well, I get the 'Growing Pains' and all that..." said Frank.

"I understand what you said, Gardenia," William calmly answered.

Clive just said, "I guess so..."

"I know what you mean," Anne replied.

"Yeah, I'm with you!" Nicolas happily responded.

"Yes, it's sort of like a principle in all the other gyms," Gardenia's Turtwig began, "not just in Sinnoh, but also in every other region. And not just in gyms. Not a single Pokemon is exempted from that principle. Not even a legendary Pokemon is exempted from the principle. So that principle also applies to all of us."

"Well, you are a Pokemon of a gym leader," William said, "so it obviously applies to you and her, too."

"I wasn't just referring to me and her," The Turtwig corrected, "I'm also referring to all of you. And before you gasp or shout or anything like that, it's really obvious by now. You still have your humanity in your head, and at least some part of your old personality, but you have a body of a Pokemon..."

"...meaning?" Dave asked.

"Psst," Wallace quietly whispered to Dave, "I think I know where this is going."

"Where?" Dave simply asked back quietly.

"Hey, please be quiet," the Turtwig demanded. Then, he answered, "You're going to have all the physical attributes of a Pokemon. Moves, abilities, and all that. So you're going to get stronger and more experienced as a natural Pokemon...all because you have a body of a Pokemon. Maybe one day, with enough experience, you could evolve."

And it was all obvious to Wallace, yet he had overlooked it, perhaps not even noticing it. If they had a body of a Pokemon, could they not experience what a natural Pokemon will experience in its life? Sure, they had been human before, and they had been unknowingly transformed into Pokemon, but that does not mean they can not have the abilities of a Pokemon. He had seen that happen all over again, with many of his friends attacking wild Pokemon, two gym leaders, and even their friends in friendly battles against each other.

But to evolve. Wallace wondered what it felt like to become a Grotle. True, he would be stronger, but would it be painful—to change into a Grotle? He saw enough Pokemon evolving to describe it well. They would glow so brightly that he could only see the shape of the Pokemon as it morphed into a stronger, better Pokemon. Would it hurt? That was his question.

"Um, Turtwig," Wallace asked, "Does it hurt when it comes to evolving?"

"Yes, Turtwig," Gardenia spoke up, "I've been wondering about that too."

"Yeah," Mark began, "I want to be stronger, but I'm thinking: Will the evolving be painful?"

"Well, to tell you the truth," The Turtwig answered, "even though I haven't evolved into a Grotle myself, it isn't painful. Before I was captured, some of my friends evolved into Grotle. One day, I asked one of them the same question you asked me. 'Will it hurt when I become like you?' My friend answered that inside that glow of light, you will practically not feel anything and when it disappears, being a Grotle will quickly become natural to you. For you, the ones who have been transformed, it's kind of like wearing a new pair of shoes, I think. You're so used to your old shoes, that waring the new, yet larger pair of shoes feels strange, but after a few steps, you're already used to it. It may not be a good illustration, but that's all I can come up."

"It's OK. It's good enough for us to understand, " complimented Wallace. He looked around the room. "So...can we leave you two alone? We'll be waiting outside for Mackie to come back."

"Yes you can go. That's enough company for the time being," Gardenia answered.

"Then that's settled. Come on people, let's go," Wallace ordered as everyone said their goodbyes to Gardenia and her Turtwig before leaving the room.

Almost instantaneously, they were greeted by Mary, Peter, and Philipp, with their respective Pokemon following suite.

"Oh, I almost forgot Wallace," Philipp said, moving animatedly to make up for not telling it to Wallace before, "We gave nicknames to our Pokemon. It not only makes them unique, but it makes our friendships stronger...at least that's what we believe. I named my Totodile, 'Tody.'"

"Nice to meet you!" Tody playfully greeted the eight.

"Um..nice to meet you too!" Anne said as she began to shake hands with him. Tody shook hands too hard, too fast, and that left Anne a bit dizzy.

"I call my Cyndaquil, 'Flame,'" Peter revealed. "Come on, Flame; these are my friends."

Flame calmly walked up to Wallace. Wallace noticed the flames on his back. He sure had to be careful greeting him; Wallace was a Grass-type, after all. Besides, he had every reason to be careful around Flame: He might greet him too happily and probably run him over with fire and hurt him so badly in the process.

"Hi!" Flame cheerily greeted the wary Wallace. "We can shake hands together, if I could, that is."

"Yes, I can see it as clear as day," Wallace noted, referring to the Cyndaquil's short, digitless hands, then looking at his own hands, which were also short and had no fingers or anything like that. "I can't shake hands too, Flame."

"Now we have one thing in common!" Flame cheered to himself and Wallace.

"Looks like you're already getting alone with my Pokemon!" Peter mentioned.

"What about my Leafy?" Mary asked.

"Leafy?" Dave asked back.

"That's the name of my Chikorita," explained Mary. "If you want to meet her..." She turned to her Chikorita who was looking at the potted plant near the snack machine. "Leafy!" Mary called out. "Would you like to meet a friend of mine? Here's my friend, Dave!"

"Um...that's OK." Dave spoke to Mary, not wanting to be run over by a Chikorita that's too happy and perhaps a bit too childlike too.

"Oh, hi, Dave! How are you today!"

Leafy quickly ran into Dave, making him fall flat into the floor.

"I'm fine, Leafy, I'm fine..." Dave faced Mary. "Don't do that with me again, Mary."

"Even if I stop," Mary answered, "Leafy could keep on greeting you like this. Just because I stop telling her doesn't mean she will really stop. It's her choice."

"And she has chosen to run into me rather than to just say a simple 'Hi' or 'Hello' face-to-face."

"It's a whole lot better than only saying 'Hi,'" Leafy spoke up, "right Davey?"

"But that's going to hurt the one you're greeting, and oh, it's _Dave, _not_ Davey_. It sounds like a childish nickname, and I don't think that's even a nickname. It's longer than _Dave, _so save yourself the throat ache."

"I want to call you Davey, so I'll call you Davey!"

Dave sighed. "OK, if you want it that way...but don't say it so much. It irritates me when you say it too often."

Leafy did not listen. "Davey, Davey, Davey, Davey..." she sang.

"I _am _serious," Dave said with anger in his voice.

Frank noticed Dave's fury rising. "Leafy, you have to listen to him. He _is _serious. Better stop annoying him if you don't want to get hurt."

"Even if his water attacks don't do pretty much damage to me?" Leafy asked.

"Yes," Frank answered, then added, "Just because you have an advantage over him doesn't always mean you'll win. He has some powerful moves up his sleeves, and I sure don't know how many Grass-type moves you have up yours."

"What's a sleeve?" Leafy asked out of curiosity.

"Leafy," Frank tried to explain, "it's a figure of speech. A simile, a metaphor, an exaggeration—they're all—"

"Let her to know what the word 'sleeve' is on her own," interrupted Wallace. He turned to Philipp. "I'm sorry we went off-topic so fast. Is it OK that everyone else will be getting to know each other with your Pokemon for the next few moments?"

"'Is it OK?' You're _supposed _to get to know each other!" Philipp replied boldly.

"Oh," Wallace said in surprise, "maybe I'm not as awake as I thought I was."

"Well, maybe a grand 'get-to-know-each-other' event can be held in the hallway. That oughta' wake you up." Philipp faced their Pokemon. "Do you want to have a nice talk with the rest of my friends? We'll get out of the Pokemon Center so you can have fun with them without disturbing anyone."

All three of them all said, in unison, "Yes!"

* * *

"Rhye, Rhye!"

Rhye was already stressed being an acting leader of the camp. "Where are they?" was the question that often came into his mind. With the leaders having left without notice to get the Forest Badge, no wonder everyone in the camp was surprised when the ones who were supposed to lead them were gone. And who turned up fortunate enough to become the temporary leader until they come back—or the way around, until the _camp _goes to them? Rhye. And not just because he was a powerful Pokemon—a mighty Honchkrow. He was considered a cruel authoritarian by some of the younger members of the camp, but the leaders chose him as an acting leader for the station. Why him? Because from the second day of the transformations, he came in as the Pokemon who would discipline others. Sure, justice is done to the criminals, but when he senses someone is squandering his or her freedom through a harmful act or a bad conversation, he sees it to it that he is disciplined. Why? "So that they may go back to the road that is right. When people act badly, someone has to put the line on the sand." That was his response when the leaders asked him why he pecked at some young "former humans" when they kept persisting on their arguing and bickering. To the leaders, he was the leader that nearly matched the ideal image of a leader.

"Who's calling out my name?" Rhye yelled out loud.

But it was only nearly. It was not a complete and perfect ideal image of a leader. No one can be, anyway. Ever since he had become a Honckrow, instead of visiting his friends or having fun with them or even just talking to them, he set most of the daytime away for him to live in solitude. And not only that, he was having a hard time forgiving someone. Revenge looked like the victor to him. And in his image of a leader, there was one flaw, that led to more flaws, and it was his new inability to forgive. Although he liked Honchkrow in general, there was one thing that made them be depicted as cruel so many times: Their inability to forgive. And when he changed into a Honchkrow on that fateful night, he might have retained some of his attributes, but what was lost was the easiness when it comes to forgiveness. And when he realized that when he had such a hard time forgiving a friend of his, he was surprised. It used to be so easy for him to forgive. Out of all the attributes he had as a human, the forgiving part of him seemed to go away from him when he woke up and found out he was a Honchkrow. Why that?

"Rhye! Someone's calling you!" one of the young members of the station, a Drifloon, shouted back. "It's Mackie the Chatot! It's like he has something really important to say to you. Follow me."

The question had to be discussed about later. Now, without hesitation, he followed the Drifloon into the center of a grassy patch near Floaroma Town, outside of the boundaries of the station. Then, like what the Drifloon said, a Chatot was there.

"You should go. This is a private conversation about a really important matter." Rhye ordered the young Drifloon.

"Well, if you're bothered with me here, then OK." The Drifloon left and returned inside the borders Pokemon Station.

Rhye slowly approached the Chatot. He doubted if it was Mackie. He was not the only person to be transformed into a Chatot, and that was plain obvious to him.

"Hey, Rhye! How's it going?" No doubt that nasal voice was Mackie's.

"'How's it going?'" Rhye repeated, "Many needed discipline, and they sure got what they wanted, if that's what you're asking."

"Did anyone cry under your supervision?" Mackie asked, with a snicker.

"Some of the kids did," was Rhye's reply. Then, he asked, "Now, why are you here? What do you have to tell me? I don't have time for any games. It should be _really _important."

"Well, Mr. Rhye," Mackie started, "there is one thing they like to tell you, but I want to add that they earned the Forest Badge..."

"As if that was any kind of important news at all..." Rhye thought out loud.

"...but made Gardenia and her Turtwig faint in the process. Dave has also fainted in the battle, too. They're now in the Pokemon Center, hospitalized but OK. They accepted our hospitality..." Then he let out a laugh. "Get it? Hospitality!" Then he laughed all the more, making Rhye more mad at him and his demeanor.

"Yes...I get it." Rhye merely replied, hiding his growing anger and surprise from plain view. _Gardenia and her Turtwig...hospitalized? They can really be _that _powerful? Sure, she's not as powerful as any of the Elite Four, but..._

"But isn't that a bit too ruthless?" Rhye asked, still trying to hide his fury, "To really defeat a gym leader when everyone including the gym leader is a Pokemon? I mean, they can just say that they can't take it and that's over. "

"Gym leaders are not your usual Pokemon trainers. They'd rather fight to the ugly end than give up easily. Oh, I almost forgot. The leaders told me something I should tell you."

"Well then, stop stalling and tell it to me straight to my face!" Rhye demanded.

"Woah, slow down there, big guy!" Mackie exclaimed. "Don't hurt me now! I'm just warming up to the message."

"Ugh...why do you have to warm up to the message anyway?" Rhye asked, already tired of Mackie's delaying. "Why do you have to make jokes when you can just tell it to me the moment we see each other?"

"It's called 'warming up,' Rhye!" Mackie joked.

Rhye felt the anger grow bigger. It was becoming harder for him to contain his anger, but at least he did not go into a rampage—yet.

"It's OK Rhye; no need to attack me or anything like that! The 'warming up' is finished, so I'll tell you what Wallace wants you to do."

"He want _me _to do something? While he and the others at Eterna City? While we're still here by the order of Wallace? Is it not logical for _them _to stay or the rest of the station to come with _them_ to Eterna City?"

"Let's just say they rushed into the Eterna Forest and left you behind. They kind of have forgotten you while they were in the forest. I heard they had a huge battle over there, not to mention the gym battle at the Eterna Gym. And besides, they met three of their long-time-no-see friends on that same gym. It's pretty interesting that most of the leaders and their friends are the kind of Pokemon which a trainer should start with; first, you have a Turtwig, Chimchar, and a Piplup as the starting Pokemon for this region, then a Treecko—"

"Stop it!" Rhye shouted loudly, as he flew into the direction of Mackie. Just in time, Mackie dodged Rhye's attack. It was so close to him, he felt his feathers move with the "whish" of the fast attack. He even felt a little pain through his side. When he stood up, he saw Rhye just standing there a few yards away from him. Rhye was facing him, now with a calm face.

"What's your problem, Rhye?" Mackie yelled at him. "Is it something about your personality? Because you look like you have some anger management issues!"

Rhye remained silent for a while. Of course, it _is _something about his personality. But he decided to change the subject. "Why don't you just tell me what Wallace said? It's so simple to just tell me what he wants me to do."

"OK, Rhye, if you insist: He wants you to lead the camp to Eterna City. I think they're not going anywhere else unless they have you and the station in the city. By the way, I think you'll be having _nine _co-leaders when you get there."

"Nine?" Rhye wondered out loud.

"Remember those friends I told you a while earlier before you went beserk and almost made me injured so badly?" Mackie asked, with emphasis on him almost being injured.

"Yes, go on..." was just Rhye's simple answer.

"I think they're going to join as co-leaders of the Pokemon Station. From what I'm getting, the leaders used to have a childhood group back then. And perhaps the members of that group would eventually become like the Congress or the Cabinet of the Pokemon Station, whichever fits better. Perhaps one of them would work on social problems, the other on supplies, yet another would work on food, and so on and so forth."

"OK, a group of leaders to lead the Pokemon Station with each of them working on a different aspect of the Station; that sounds a lot like a democracy." Rhye responded. "And back to Wallace's orders, don't you think Eterna Forest is really large for the camp? You could easily have some members lost in that forest."

"True, it is large, but it isn't _that _large," Mackie spoke.

"What do you mean 'it isn't _that _large?'" mimicked Rhye.

"Well, it isn't as big as a city," explained Mackie, "It's as big as a...forest. It's sort of like a maze, but it isn't really big. It's just as big as it is."

Rhye remained silent for a while, thinking on what he should do. "You got me. We're going. Tell them we're packing as you speak. But here's a little job for you: Guide me. I've never been into that forest before. If I wanted to go to Eterna City and back, I went _around _Eterna Forest, for fear of the Ghost-type Pokemon that's in the Old Chateau."

"Fear? It's just a legend, and if it was true, I think it's friendly. And here's a little thing right back at you: There's a map at the entrance of Eterna Forest. Better make good use of it."

"So, that's it?" Rhye asked, ready to end the discussion.

"Yes, that's all I have to say, Rhye. If you need me, just call out my name!"

"But you'll be too far away to hear it!"

"So? I'll go the forest according to my schedule." He turned his back at Rhye, and began flying around the patch until he was ready to back to Eterna City.

"It's goodbye, then!" Mackie shouted very loudly. Then, he became too far away to hear or even see in the horizon.

Rhye immediately flew back into the borders of the Pokemon Station. By now, it was teeming with "former humans." It all started like a group for those trying to cope with living like a Pokemon, and now, almost anyone was welcome, as long as they would follow the rules established by the leaders and co-leaders. Wild Pokemon were obviously not accepted; they have been Pokemon for their whole lives. And Pokemon under the ownership of a Trainer can't join. The trainer might wonder where his or her Pokemon have gone. And a missing Pokemon could do little good to his or her trainer.

It was now bustling with not just those who can't help themselves, but those who could help themselves, but chose to help others. It had the helped and the helpers, all in one group. And, once someone was done with the Station, he is welcome to leave with a considerable reason.

It also had another reason that only Rhye, the leaders and the co-leaders knew: To be prepared. For what? Of course, they were prepared for wild Pokemon attacks, no doubt. They were also prepared to fight against criminal organizations that may come their way such as Team Rocket and so on. But there was more than just preparing against the obvious. They were prepared in case they can't turn back into humans anymore. It could be possible. They were sure that some scientist or some group of scientists are doing their best to find the ultimate remedy to whatever caused them to become Pokemon. And they were surely going to try to turn themselves and eventually to everyone else back into humans for once and for all.

But there is always the possibility that they can not find a cure at all, no matter how hard they try, no matter how hard they research, experiment, test and try. Even worse, they could just give up when everything seems so bleak. Rhye knew better. Everyone else knew better. The old adage was "Never give up! Never, never, never give up!" It was so popular, nearly everyone knew that old adage. But it was not automatic. Everyone, even the scientists, had a choice to give up or press on.

He should apply that to his own life. He was fighting against his own inability to forgive. It was hard. Fighting against one's self is never easy. But it had to be done if he did not want anyone to be hurt by his own hand because of his exploding fury and anger. He should never give up on fighting against his bad attributes.

And, even though the adage was used many times too many, he decided to say it loudly to them once he announced that they were going to Eterna City where the leaders are. He wanted to say those eight words to them, not just as words of encouragement, but as a statement. He was serious about it. Rhye did not know how hard or easy it is going to be navigating the Eterna Forest, but if difficulties arise, they would come back to the old saying.

"Everyone, I have a message from Eterna City!" Rhye announced. Everyone looked at him. Rhye made a long silence so everyone would gather around and listen to what he is going to say. It was noisy as they tried to find a place to sit down. And the ones who can not find a place to sit down, they just stood. When everyone was comfortable, with no other noise he could hear, Rhye began.

"I have been informed that the ones leading this camp are in Eterna City. They left us in a rush to get their second badge, but it was not intentional; Mackie told me that they forgot to tell all of us. Now don't get mad at me, or the leaders; it's an honest mistake they admitted.

"I was also informed that Wallace gave me an order: To transfer the entire station into Eterna City, so that the leaders will continue to run the station directly and properly."

The young ones cheered and applauded, obviously happy that the painful pecks and smackings of Rhye would be over. Rhye knew that they really needed the discipline to be able to not just survive the world, but to make the right choices.

"So," Rhye moved on, "we'll be gathering at Floaroma Town before we start moving to Eterna City. We need to make sure _everyone _will be there, and I mean _everyone_. If you plan to quit the Station, you may talk to me anytime you feel like it after this announcement, but before we officially leave for Eterna City. Is it clear? No response? I take that as a yes." Most of the audience laughed at his last statement. Rhye only chuckled at his own joke.

"So by sunset, everyone should be at Floaroma town, with all the supplies, materials, and so on and so forth. You better be ready when we leave. If you think you forgot something and, let's say, we're already deep in Eterna Forest, there's no going back. You are responsible for your own things, so don't blame me, or your friend, or maybe even your enemy. You have yourself to blame—just don't be self-piteous. That's dead wrong.

"Now, that's the end of the somewhat short announcement. You should start packing right now. It looks like it's high noon, but we need to make use of all the time that we have in our hands. Any questions?"

The same Drifloon that appeared to him earlier asked, "Why sunset, Mr. Rhye? Isn't it better to leave tomorrow morning?"

"I follow the principle that states 'The earlier, the better,' so no need to argue with that logic. Any other questions? No? OK. If you want to talk to me later, I'll be near Floaroma Town." Then, Rhye took off for the flower patches of Floaroma Town. He perched on a picket that was part of a fence and spent the remaining time he had being with himself. Alone.

* * *

They walked out of the Pokemon Center as happy and talking Pokemon, as Tody, Leafy, and Flame start to become friends with the "former humans." The trio was sure amazed when they realized that practically everyone in Sinnoh was a Pokemon.

And then, after some walking and talking, Leafy spoke up. "Hey, I know this city!"

"Of course you do," Mary said, "It's Eterna City. It's amazing right? And its gym leader specializes in Grass-type Pokemon!"

"That's not what I mean!" Leafy answered back.

"I sense a short story coming up," Mark predicted out of the blue.

"I've seen pictures of this city," Leafy began, "I clearly remember the time when I saw them. I was still a Pokemon waiting for someone to choose me. It looked like some Pokemon Trainer did not notice some pictures and a miniature map fall from his bag. I was curious about what it all meant, so I took a closer look. It was pictures of this same city. I'm surprised that I didn't notice it until now. Perhaps I did not see much of the city until now. The city looks practically the same as I saw in the pictures. But there's two things that I noticed in the pictures."

"What is it?" Mary asked, wondering what those "two things" were.

"First...what is that Pokemon of the statue over there?" Leafy asked while pointing to the statue that was nearby.

"I don't know. Let's take a closer look," Mary answered.

All of them went up the wide stairs leading to the statue. They were astonished by the appearance of the aging statue, with their astonishment emphasized all the more due to their short height.

The statue looked ancient. It was made out of stone, and signs of dilapidation were prominent and everywhere. The Pokemon of the statue was so decayed, it was hard to identify it. There was one thing that was true about the Pokemon: It was big. _Really _big. If it was bigger than the depiction of the statue—which it actually is bigger; they were sure about it—than it was really large. Just really large.

Then there was the plate. Or where it seemed it used to be. It looked like someone tore the plate off the statue. Or perhaps the plate decayed for so long, it was virtually gone. Or maybe, the plate is really there, but the words and letters are hard to read, maybe even missing due to the aging of the statue. Without the plate, they did not know what Pokemon was depicted.

"Wait, that Pokemon looks so familiar..." Wallace thought out loud.

"Familiar?" Clive wondered at Wallace's comment, "It's beyond recognition. How can that be familiar?"

"It looks a lot like a legendary Pokemon, all right," Mark remarked.

"Aha!" Wallace exclaimed, as he ran to one side of the statue. "It looks a lot like the Temporal Pokemon, Dialga!"

Almost everyone else ooh'ed and aah'ed at the fact that it was not just a legendary Pokemon they were looking at; it was Dialga, the Temporal Pokemon.

"At least from your perspective," Frank commented, "I've done my homework on legendary Pokemon, and, if I'm not mistaken, it looks more like Palkia, the Spatial Pokemon."

"This is starting to get confusing to me," Peter remarked.

"You've got to be kidding me," Wallace answered back, "it's Dialga from this side."

"Hold on a minute!" Peter shouted, as he inspected both sides of the statue.

"Well, what is it, Philipp?" William asked.

"It's...it's like a two-in-one statue," explained Philipp, as he ran around the statue, inspecting every side of it. "The left side is Dialga's side and the right side is Palkia's side."

"Why did they made it that way?" Mark asked.

"How am I supposed to know?" Philipp answered back. "I wasn't there when the people built this statue. You might have to ask an expert about that."

"Maybe the experts are over there," Mary said as she pointed to the building that looked a lot like an office. Except for the roof were it looked like a puffed up heliport with spikes on its sides, and what looked like a yellow ring surrounding the roof.

"Let's go there," Wallace agreed. "It will not only past the time, but it will also let us know what in the world that Pokemon is."


	26. Comeback

**Chapter 25**

**Come Back**

_"Now this is not the end. It is not even the beginning of the end. But it is, perhaps, the end of the beginning." ~Winston Churchill_

* * *

They have not traveled that far, but they could already see some of its details more clearly. As goes any other office, or at least any building that looked like an office, the front door was guarded. But what surprised them was that it was not guarded by some Pokemon, with the gang knowing that it seemed everyone was a Pokemon now. Instead, they were guarded by two people with shamrock-colored hair. And, as if that was not surprising enough, their uniform seemed so familiar. The uniform was slim and grey. But what made the uniform stood out was that it had a stylish and yellow logo that resembled the uppercase "G."

"Hey, with the clothes they're wearing," Mark noted, "they look really familiar, but it doesn't seem to ring a bell to me."

"Me too," Wallace answered, "but it looks like I saw these uniforms just two days ago. Maybe even a day ago."

"Well, it doesn't seem to matter to me," Dave said with pride, "so it looks like I can just ask those guys if we can go in." He walked farther in the direction of the building. Then, everyone followed him, with Mark saying "Hey, wait up!"

"Wait!" Anne suddenly shouted multiple times at him, although Dave continued walking vauntingly, maybe even ignoring Anne's plea for him to stop. She resorted to running to him and stopping him physically.

"I said I can talk our way through the guards, OK?" Dave said, annoyed that Anne stopped him in his tracks. "Besides, if you want to know what Pokemon was depicted on that statue, the answers might lie in the building."

"But, I sense that there are two things about the building, and those things don't look good for us!"

That was enough for everyone to listen to what Anne has to say. "Are you really sure something seems fishy about the building and the two guards over there?" Mackie asked.

"To me, it's as plain as day!" Anne answered back, then added, "First, haven't you read the sign yet?"

Indeed, there was a sign near the entrance. There was one problem for the rest of them: It was still too far from them for them to read it.

"There's one obvious why we haven't read it yet: We're not there yet!" Dave shouted.

"But _I _can, maybe because I have 20/20 vision," Anne pointed out.

"You're a Psychic-type Pokemon. A lot of Pokemon in that category have really good vision," Frank noted, "along with Hoothoot, that is."

"Well, I'm not a Hoothoot, but I can read the sign, but let me tell you the bad news about the guards over there: Remember the Murkrow two nights ago?"

"Wait, what Murkrow?" Philipp asked. "I'm sorry, but we haven't been with you two nights ago."

"Did the Murkrow have some kind of Spanish accent?" Leafy asked.

"How did you know the Murkrow we encountered last night had a Spanish accent, or at least knew some Spanish words?" Wallace wondered.

"Lucky guess?" Leafy answered shyly, with an innocent grin on her face.

"Don't you remember, Leafy?" Mary said to her, with a slightly annoyed look on her face. "We don't believe in that 'luck' business. It's all bogus."

"Oh, OK."

"We're seriously getting_ way _off-topic, here," Nicolas remarked. "Back to topic—what does the Murkrow have to do with the guards over there?"

"Well," Anne began to explain, "it wasn't just a Murkrow. I think there was a Zubat too. The trainer we encountered that night! He had...he had..."

"He had what?" Peter asked sternly, "Is it really scary?"

"Please! I hope it's not a Gryados!" Flame yelled in fear.

"Don't worry, Flame," Peter said to his Pokemon, calming him, "I'm pretty sure whatever it is, it's not a Gyrados or anything like that."

"Are you sure?" Flame asked.

"I'm absolutely sure," Peter assured.

"Can we continue on here?" Wallace asked Anne.

"Yes—He had the same uniform as those guards over there!" Anne quickly revealed.

Silence followed for a few seconds, everyone shocked by the sudden revelation. But, it seemed really...normal. Three people wearing the same clothes? Anyone can do that.

"Is that something we should be surprised about?" Clive asked, wanting to know how the uniform of three people be a bad thing. "Are they the new police force or something? Or are they _really _afraid of us?"

"So, we expect every human we encounter to wear that?" Dave wondered. "Because every human we stumbled into so far—and there was only three: The one two nights ago and the guards we see right now—has been wearing that kind of uniform. Why are they wearing that? Radioactive suits?"

"They sure look a lot like astronauts," Flame wondered. "Are they spacemen?"

"If they were spacemen, they would have a space rocket somewhere," commented Tody. "I don't see any rocket anywhere."

"Guys," Anne spoke loudly, trying to get the attention of everyone, "first of all, they're obviously _not _astronauts or spacemen or anyone like that. Seconds, not everyone that hasn't been transformed are going to wear that kind of uniform. I don't think there's a Pokemon around here that's radioactive or toxic."

"Or maybe you can make the security _think _we are radioactive _and _toxic," Mark interrupted, letting out a loud chuckle. "What, Anne? You're a psychic Pokemon; you can manipulate the minds of people so we can go in like we're the bosses of the office. Maybe you can even squeeze the information out of the brains of the scientists!"

"AHH! He's scaring me!" Leafy yelled in fear, hiding behind Mary.

"Isn't that a little too violent, Mark?" Mary asked, with a stern look on her face, "And besides, we don't want to be called 'dangerous' and all that, even though most of us are dangerous."

"Meaning we're a whole lot more powerful than humans," Frank commented. "I can climb, they can't, Anne can read and take control of other Pokemon's minds, they can't—" Frank thought about what he just said. "Oh no...what's happening to me?"

"Frank, you're starting to act...more like a Pokemon faster than we thought!" Wallace pointed out, with urgency in his voice. Some of the friends gasped at Frank's words.

"Now we're seriously going _way beyond _off-topic here," Nicolas said, then added, "but what Frank just said—it's really unnatural of him to say things like that. From the his behavior the last few days, he really wants to change back into a human—and he wants it so badly."

"Then, why am I speaking like that!" Frank cried out. "I just want to be human again! And it better be as soon as possible—you heard me!" He was shouting so loud, they were amazed that the guards did not hear them yet. But it looked like they could sense it any second by now. "Back to human! A-S-A-P! Get it now? Because the sooner, the better—that's what they say! The more we're stuck as Pokemon, the more we become like it in the mind and in our attitude and behavior! What if we're Pokemon for too long, and we're practically natural Pokemon, as if we have never been a human!" He finally calmed down, gasping for air. "Sorry...if I hurt anyone of you. But...I'm afraid of the slow transformation that's taking place...in my behavior. What if it takes away the good things in my attitude...and replace it with bad things?"

"But there's a catch:" Anne interjected, "it can also make the _bad _things in your behavior into _good _things. And there's another thing that I'm trying to tell you, but you and everyone else always keeps on interrupting me."

"Well, you the time for you to speak up is right now, and you better speak up now," Mark demanded.

"OK! Sheesh, why do you have to be so impatient? Oh wait, a lot of Chimchar are like that, and your attitude's becoming a lot like a Chimchar's—"

"Can you just spit it out?" Mark impatiently shouted.

"You know what? Be glad that we're still a fair distance from that building. If we had been really close to it, the guards would have heard us by now.

"Back to the matter at hand;" She looked at the faraway sign, "The sign reads: Team Galactic Eterna Building—We Want Your Pokemon!"

"For what?" Wallace asked, confused about why would some team want the Pokemon of the people.

"Yeah, I agree with him;" Philipp added, "It doesn't make sense. And, 'Team Galactic'? That sounds more like a team of astronauts."

"Let me guess: All of you never heard of Team Galactic. Am I right?"

"May I ask Rhye about Team Galactic?" Mackie said, raising his wing.

"I think he's still far away, deep in Eterna Forest. So, for the second and the last time, none of you has ever heard of Team Galactic? Not even a casual reference?"

"What about me? I know at least a few things about that nasty team!" Mackie answered.

"Actually, the only references we heard are from Mackie," told Wallace. "And it seems we have forgotten his warning that there was a—"

"Team Galactic Headquarters in this very city?" Mackie interrupted. "I decided to remain silent about that just to see if anyone of you really remembered. I'm surprised that even you—" pointing towards Anne, "forgot about it even though you are a Psychic Pokemon."

"Heh heh," Anne innocently chuckled, trying to find a reason why she forgot. She then suddenly regained her composure and changed the topic, saying "Well then, why did you want to ask Rhye about Team Galactic earlier?"

"Maybe he knows more about it than I do. Besides, since he likes to mete out disciplines like they were dishes waiting to be served, maybe he could be a police officer or at least someone who encountered a member of Team Galactic. Or we can even ask...wait...Oh great! I forgot her!"

"What do you mean forgot?" Wallace asked, now groaning over the fact that they, once again, might have forgotten someone.

"I forgot Catherine!"

* * *

"This is not funny, Mackie! When I find you, oh, I'm so going to smash and freeze you for leaving alone in your house!" Catherine angrily mumbled. "You were at the back of the pack—_way _back, _way _behind of everyone else—and I was calling at you so loudly, even Wallace could have heard it, but you ignored me!"

After realizing that Mackie and the others rushed to Eterna City without her, despite of her depsperate shouts, she prepared a makeshift bag of berries, then tried to rush into Eterna City and perhaps get even with Mackie The problem: She was scrambled in the fight between the others and Team Rocket. So, she was stuck in the forest. To make matters worse, she had lost her sense of direction for a while. And she was really mad. She was so close to getting out of the mazy forest. Although encountering some wild Pokemon on the way and some rays of light, none of them were a help to her in finding a way out.

"Why does this forest have to be this hard to get out of?" She mumbled to herself, as she navigated through the turns and straight paths. And, as if on cue, a wooden sign was in sight. She ran to it, hoping it would give her directions to Eterna City. To her delight, it read "Straight on: Eterna City."

"Finally! Mackie, I hope you're ready for me because here I come!" taunted Catherine as she dashed towards the exit and into Eterna City.

* * *

"You left her in Eterna Forest!" Anne exclaimed in surprise.

"Actually, _we _left her in Eterna Forest. We really need to get an attendance sheet or something like that," Mackie commented.

"_We?_" Philipp yelled, "Does that '_we' _include us? Because I and my friends don't know who this Catherine is, and neither do our Pokemon know her!"

"Yeah!" Tody shouted. "Um...who is she?"

"First, we forgot the station and its members, then Catherine!" Dave said, pointing out the obvious, and ignoring Philipp and Tody, "Who's next? Nicolas? Mackie? Anne?"

"Stop freaking out already!" Wallace told him, attempting to calm him down.

"Oh no, what if Catherine's mad at me?" Mackie realized. "I was the one at the back when we were nearing Eterna City. She might think I ignored her or something like that! She might even blame me for making her lose her bearings! And what if she won't forgive me!" He was now more afraid of what Catherine might do to him than any evil plan Team Galactic could think of. "What if she's coming here right now? It might be all of us that made her stuck in the forest, but...she might think I'm not even a good friend, and she might become an enemy or someone like that!"

"Chill out!" Anne shouted at him. "Just because you're at the back of the pack doesn't necessarily mean you're the one with the biggest blame of them all. It could be one of the others, too. It could be Frank, Nicolas, or even Mark—"

"So you're calling me the one with the biggest blame?" Mark interrupted prematurely.

"I said 'it _could _be one of the others,'" Anne explained to Mark, "it doesn't mean you're actually the one with the largest fault in leaving Catherine behind. In fact, it's safe to say all of us have a part in leaving her behind in Eterna Forest, whether it was intentional or unintentional—_whether we like it or not_"

"But what about Catherine herself?" Nicolas asked. "Can she even survive the forest for even a few hours?"

"Haven't you seen her shoot out Ice Beams?" Frank noted. "And the fact that Eterna Forest is abundant in berries? She can survive for like, a week, if not a few more weeks—but I doubt that she wants to stay there for even a day."

"And what if she's already out of the forest and she's coming here to get revenge on me?" Mackie cried.

"I don't think revenge is a good idea..." Wallace said, half-expecting Catherine to pop up out of nowhere and attack Mackie with an Ice Beam.

"About Team Galactic—" Mackie said quickly, trying to change the topic, "Well, for those who have either forgotten what Team Galactic is or just don't know even know the name—Team Galactic is an evil organization that wants to get rid of—"

"AAH!" Mary, Tody, and Flame yelled all at once in fear and fled to the nearest tree.

Their owners went after them, then their friends followed with all of them wondering what made them so scared.

"Hey, what gives!" Mark asked in a premature tone.

"M-Mackie..." Flame stuttered, pointing at the Chatot.

"You're scared of me just because I was doing my best to describe Team Galactic?" Mackie said, annoyed by the blame put on him.

"What if they try to lock us up in cages and get rid of us! Mackie said they want to get rid of us!" Leafy screamed, clearly scared of the team.

"Hey! I only said 'get rid of—' when you screamed at the top of your lungs!" grumbled Mackie. "You didn't even give me a chance to finish my sentence!"

"He's s-scary!" Leafy shouted between tears.

"Don't worry, Leafy!"Mary said as she attempted to settle them down. "I'm pretty sure they won't lock _you _in a—"

"Or what if they put us under mind control and make us attack you and get rid of you?" Tody shouted, also afraid of the team.

"Then we'll get them and attack them for it!" assured Philipp, making a fist with his tiny hand.

"Or what if they use us as test subjects on their evil research!" Flame yelled in fear. "And what if they try to mutate all of us? It's so evil, scary, and—"

"OK!" Mackie shouted. "Team Galactic _may _lock us up in cages and they _may _put us under mind control but rest assured, they _will not _use us as test subjects or anything like that—at least that's what I think."

"Are you _really _sure it's true?" Leafy asked, still scared of what Team Galactic might do.

"Yes, it's so true, you can face it right up front," Mackie assured.

"Then let's all face the guards up front!" Dave suddenly commanded, already walking towards the building.

"Hey! Wait for all of us!" Wallace shouted. Everyone else shouted almost the same thing at Dave.

* * *

The two guards stood still and were aware of everything that came into their view. They were prepared for anything. So they were not surprised when they saw a big group of Pokemon walk to the building. And the group was really talkative.

One of the guards stooped down to their level. "What are you doing here?"

"We're all here to stop you and your little team!" Mark boasted. To the guards, it was just a Chimchar who wants to put up a fight. Or a former human who _really _knew their true purpose, but forgot that what the guards—and any other person who is still a human—will only hear are variations of the word "Chimchar."

"I can't understand you, because guess what?" The guard joked. "You're a Pokemon. And unless you—"

Mark immediately surrounded himself with flames, did a somersault, and attacked him with a Flame Wheel.

"Hey! I didn't even release my Pokemon yet!" The guard shouted.

"I'll take care of them!" The other guard shouted. He took one of his Poke balls, pressed the button on the front and out came a Skuntank.

"Aw, that stinks!" Mackie commented.

"I heard that!" The Skuntank answered back, as he prepared to strike.

"Everyone get back! I'll take care of this guy so he won't make the rest of you all smelly and stinky!" Mackie said boldly as he walked toward the Skuntank.

The rest of the gang followed Mackie's command and stayed a few yards from him.

"Just don't get really stinky, Mackie!" Wallace warned. "We don't want you to smell really bad when the others get here!"

"Don't worry!" assured Mackie. "I can fly, and it can't be possible that this Skuntank can spray his stinky fluid upwards."

"Oh yes I can!" The Skuntank shouted back.

"Skuntank, use your Poison Gas!" Shouted the guard with his Skuntank.

"Fear my Poison Gas!" The Skuntank shouted as he sprayed his poisonous and smelly spray towards Mackie, who fortunately for him, flew upwards, missing the spray.

"How should I fear it if I can dodge it so easily?" Mackie taunted. "You should fear what _I _can do!"

He flew straight to the Skuntank and repeatedly pecked him with his beak.

"Slash the Chatot, Skuntank!" ordered the guard.

The Skuntank made his claws grow a bit longer and hit Mackie, leaving scars on his body.

"Are you OK!" Anne shouted loudly.

"C'mon! Let me help him out!" Flame yelled, wanting to defeat the Skuntank, but Peter got a hold of him.

"What if you get stinky too, Flame?" Peter said with care in his voice. "I know what's best for you, and getting stinky in the middle of day is not what's best for you. OK?"

Without hesitation, Flame simply nodded and said "OK, trainer."

"Hey, remember! I don't look like your usual trainer anymore!" Peter reminded. "I'm just like you!"

* * *

"Do you want me to warn the others?" the knocked-down guard asked.

"Yes! Do it as quickly as possible!" the other guard ordered. "I'll hold them off!"

The knocked-down guard quickly stood up and ran inside the building.

"Oh no, that doesn't look good." Wallace noticed. "It looks like one of them is warning everyone else in the building. And this was supposed to be a breeze."

"Just remember Wallace," Anne advised, "any building guarded by some people on the outside won't be easy to infiltrate."

"Because there's a whole lot more guards on the inside?" Wallace asked.

"Obviously, yes."

Their focus shifted to the battle in front of them. Although Mackie was hurt, it did not mean it was over for him yet. Some scars alone does not mean the end of the battle.

"You want it? Then you'll have it!" taunted Mackie as he flew upwards, then aimed towards Skuntank at great speed. Then, he slammed the Skuntank with all of his might. In spite of that, the Skuntank recovered quickly.

"Skuntank, use your Sludge Bomb!" the guard commanded, and the Skuntank released globs of filthy, brown sludge at Mackie, with a lot of them hitting the Chatot.

"I hope that was the worst you can do!" Mackie shouted, really meaning what he was saying. He flew upwards again, and swooped down at Skuntank. Mackie then pecked at the Skuntank.

Still damaged from the attack, the Skuntank simply replied, "The Sludge Bomb...that's not the worst I can do. Just waiting for my trainer to say the word."

Mackie gulped at this. "Are you going to?...Oh please no..."

The guard, frustrated by the persistent Chatot, shouted, "Skuntank, it's about time to use your toxic spray!"

That could be the one that might make him stink for some time. But even worse than that, it could make him faint. He had not experienced it before, and he sure did not want to experience. The Skuntank prepared to use what could be his deadliest move. He took in a deep breath and then—

"Mackie, no!" A female voice shouted at him.

"Wait who's that!" Mackie yelled, turning his back to see who it is. He could not believe who it is right in front of him.


	27. Preparation

**Chapter 26**

**Preparations**

_"The whole point of getting things done is knowing what to leave undone" ~ Oswald Chambers_

* * *

"Catherine!" Mackie yelled in amazement, looking at the familiar Buneary that seemed to come out of nowhere. "You're here already!"

As if it was instantaneous, Almost everyone else—except Mary, Peter, Philipp and their Pokemon, for they did not know her yet—suddenly greeted her and apologized for leaving her, but Catherine explained that they did not need to say sorry to her. Mary, Peter, greeted her, introducing themselves as friends, but Philipp told her that the introductions would begin later. Their Pokemon, on the other hand, huddled around her, saying their greetings happily to her, and they were also interested in her, for she was, like the others, a former human. But they were taken from her, as the battle went on, yet they still made an occasional "Hi!" and a wave here and there.

The guard, however, was impatient. "Can we get on with the battle? Or do you want me to defeat you very easily?" He faced his Skuntank, who also looked impatient yet eager to attack them. And holding its breath. "Skuntank, release your toxic spray to the Chatot!"

"That doesn't sound like a good move, Mackie!" Catherine shouted, as she retreated behind the rest of the friends. "I think you better dodge it!"

"Are you encouraging me or discouraging me, Catherine?" Mackie asked hastily as he dodged the thick, toxic, purple stream of poisonous liquid that the Skuntank released from his mouth.

"Maybe both!" Catherine answered back loudly.

"Well, that was a _nice _answer you have, Catherine," Mackie commented sarcastically.

The stream did not reach very high in the air, as it fell to the ground in many small puddles of purple liquid.

"Phew!" Mackie exclaimed, "That was one sort of deadly move you got there, Skuntank!"

"It's not over yet, Chatot!" The guard warned Mackie. "Look at the purple puddles on the ground!"

The Skuntank had a grin on his face, as if expecting the puddles to devour Mackie whole, though he knew the puddles can not possibly do that. But he knew what they _can _do.

The puddles slowly fumed purple gas. Slowly but surely, it began to cover the battlefield. Mackie backed away from the gas as it came nearer and nearer to him.

"That's the surprise, little Chatot! The gas is poisonous and it's really toxic. Breathe it in and you'll get poisoned so badly, you'd be begging your friends to get them a Pecha berry for you. But eventually, all of you will be engulfed in the toxic gas!"

Mackie backed away from the cloud of poison as he tried to find a weak spot in the cloud. But there seemed to be none, and if Mackie did not attack the Skuntank soon, he and everyone else would be poisoned.

But something did not seem right. He looked through the cloud and saw that the gas did not even spread towards the guard. Gases should move in every direction, right?

"Hey!" Mackie shouted at the guard, finally mimicking human speech, catching the guard—and everyone else—by surprise. "How come the gas is not reaching you at all, much less making you suffocate?"

"Well, clever Chatot," the guard said slowly to Mackie, "is it not so obvious? It's already under your nose. A Pokemon would not betray its trainer, would it? A weapon would not turn its back on the one holding it and attack it with all its might, would it? My Skuntank is so well-trained, it can control the gas so it would only spread to _your _side of the field, and never to mine."

"Now, just hold on a second," Mackie said hurriedly as the purple gas covered his side of the field and as his friends started to back away from the gas alongside Mackie. "Did you just compare your Skuntank and other Pokemon to a...weapon? I mean, yes they're creatures that can do so much damage, but, Pokemon as weapons?"

"Not just weapons, Chatot," the guard said evilly, "I'm talking about using Pokemon as _living weapons_."

Mackie and the rest of the friends gasped at the guard's statement. Pokemon being used as _living weapons_? Was this the goal of Team Galactic? After all, he was wearing the uniform of Team Galactic. And what if that _was _how Team Galactic going to use Pokemon—using and maybe even abusing them as living weapons? What would they try to achieve with that kind of view on Pokemon?

"Yes, that's right! You should all fear Team Galactic, but too bad!" taunted the guard. "It looks like you are all about to be defeated, and who is to help you? Huh? Tell me!"

The Skuntank looked ready to attack the group with all his might, but the guard noticed it. "No, Skuntank. The gas is more than enough to make them suffer a painful defeat. If you want, you can watch them slowly faint."

"Not on my watch!" Catherine shouted, as she opened her mouth and a light blue ball formed in front of it. Then, light blue rays were released, going through the poisonous gas and attacking the Skuntank.

"Hey, that's unfair!" the guard shouted.

"But isn't it more unfair to use Pokemon solely as living weapons?" Catherine asked, even though she knew that the guard would only hear the question in Pokemon speech.

"If that's the case, let's make it more balanced, then." The guard fiercely pointed at the Chatot. "Skuntank! Burn the Chatot with Flamethrower!"

The Skuntank spewed out a red-orange stream of flames from his mouth to Mackie. And he was hit by it mid-air. He crashed to the ground, and was already suffering a burn on his right wing.

"Mackie, no!" Catherine shouted loudly above everyone else's moans over Mackie's pain. She rushed to comfort him from his pain and his burn.

"I would _not _let you off that easily!" the guard angrily hollered. "Skuntank, burn the little Buneary too!"

"No you won't!" Catherine yelled, as she charged up another Ice Beam, but the Skuntank released another firey stream of flames at her.

"Ice Beam doesn't work effectively with Flamethrower!" Mackie moaned to Catherine. "You have to use another move! And do it quickly! The gas is almost upon us, and no one here hasn't learned a move that defogs foggy gas like this!"

"Then what about this?" Catherine said, as she bounced up high into the air, and aimed straight for Skuntank. She then punched him on the head with her long ears, making him dizzy and confused, not knowing where to attack.

"How...how?" stuttered the guard. He quickly regained his composure, and shouted to his Skuntank, "Skuntank, attack the Buenary with your Fury Swipes!"

The Skuntank, now furious but confused, slashed with his sharp claws the immediate surroundings around him, hoping to land a hit on Catherine, but she was too fast for him.

"Why do you guys have a Buneary on your team, eh?" The Skuntank complained in frustration, as he tried to slash Catherine once again. And failed.

"By chance? I don't think so," Catherine answered, as she bounced up high above the poisonous gas again, and descended with great speed. She aimed towards the Skuntank's head, hoping to land on him and continuously jump up and down on his head.

"Skuntank!" the guard shouted at his Pokemon. "Dodge the attack!"

The Skuntank, still confused, wondered where to go. "What about this way? No, maybe her shadow might be there. What about—no, she's fast and agile and she might change direction on the last second. Maybe, what about—"

As planned, she landed with a hard thump on the Skuntank's head.

"Ow! Not again!" The Skuntank yelled in pain.

Catherine jumped up and down on his head, causing him so much pain, it looked like he was about to faint.

"Argh!" the guard mumbled to himself. "I can't believe I'm going to use this move, but then again, they look like intruders to this headquarters." He raised his voice at the Skuntank. "Skuntank, explode!"

"Are you serious?" The Skuntank moaned, even though he knew that the guard would only hear "Skuntank?"

"Just...just explode and I'll put you back into your Poke Ball!" the guard yelled madly, ready to retreat after his Skuntank explodes and, of course, faints.

With hesitation, the Skuntank glowed brightly. Catherine tried to bounce up high into the air, but she felt so tired, she could not jump above the purple gas.

"Get away from the Skuntank now!" Wallace yelled at her. "He's about to explode!"

"I can't!" Catherine shouted with all her might. "The gas is really toxic; if I try to get walk through it, I'll get badly poisoned! And I feel so tired, I can't jump above the gas!"

"Then, I'll help her!" Mackie shouted at the group. They were amazed. He was trying to save Catherine from an explosion while he still had a burn on his right wing.

"Get on my back! I can carry you!" Mackie shouted at her. The Skuntank was ready to explode.

Without any second thoughts, she got on Mackie. "Hold on, Catherine! This might be one bumpy ride you might never forget!"

Catherine held tightly to Mackie's feathers. Mackie then flew towards the gas, but immediately bent upwards at the last second. He hoped the Skuntank would not explode right now.

But he did explode. And it was a violent explosion, with smoke covering the battlefield in place of the toxic, purple gas.

Mackie and Catherine were sent flying towards the group, and crashing right into them, landing into Anne.

"Ow! Two times, I got crashed by the same Mackie on the same day!" She groaned as she recovered.

"As long as we're all OK, then it's all fine and good," Wallace said calmly.

"Haven't you been thrown off into the purple gas?" Clive asked, referring to Mackie and Catherine.

"Uh, yeah," Mackie simply replied. "Wait, he does have a point. How come I can only feel the burn, not any poisoning or some kind of toxic pain?"

"Me too," Catherine said, not feeling anything out of the ordinary. "I don't feel like I'm poisoned at all, too."

"Let's just say," Philipp theorized, "the gas was blown away when the Skuntank exploded. And both of you only inhaled the smoke, not the purple gas. So, you're safe."

Philipp faced Catherine. "Well, now it's time to introduce yourself properly. I bet the guard retreated to the building, so you don't need to be afraid of someone attacking us while you tell me, my friends, and my Pokemon who you are."

"Oh, you brought _your _Pokemon?" Catherine asked.

Philipp sighed. "Let me guess—you left your Pokemon in their Poke Balls—perhaps done so in panic—when you were transformed into a Buneary, right?"

"I think so," replied Catherine.

Philipp sighed again. "Now introduce yourself to us."

"Geez, do you have to sound so...authoritarian?" Catherine commented.

"Do I sound authoritarian to you?" Philipp answered back.

"Uhm...yes," Catherine replied, leaving Philipp a bit angry. "Now, I'll acquaint myself to you guys. But I have one request: Can you let your Pokemon and your friends's Pokemon come near me? Because it makes it easier for me to introduce myself."

"OK, Catherine," Tody said, still a bit angry at her. "Come on Tody, she wants you to listen to her."

Mary and Peter coaxed their Pokemon in the same way to listen to what Catherine has to say.

Everyone else who knew her for the past few days came closer to listen to her despite knowing her already.

Catherine began. "Well, before I say things about myself and things like that, I want to know your names." She pointed to the three Pokemon nearest to her.

"Let me just save their breaths for this one," Tody said as he stood up to introduce himself and his friends.

"You act a lot like your trainer, Totodile," Catherine noted.

"You can call me by my nickname, 'Tody.' The Cyndaquil's name is Flame, and the Chikorita—it's Leafy."

"They sound so simple," Catherine said, making cute remarks about their names.

"Was she like this when you met her?" Philipp asked Wallace.

"Far from it, actually," told Wallace. "She was the owner of a flower shop in Floaroma Town. When we reached that shop, we saw her as a Buneary. Mark made a joke about her sleeping, and William countered that with another joke. Not long after that, they were basically fighting with jokes. When she woke up, she only saw us as Pokemon, but then when I spoke up, she was surprised, because she had not heard a single Pokemon speak clear English. Then, when she figured out that she was a Buneary, she panicked."

"Then, of course, I told them to show me some proof..." Catherine continued on, as she talked to the Pokemon how she met the group, traveled to Route 205, how she met Mackie, heard his story about his parents, stayed a day and night in his house, went to Eterna Forest, how Team Rocket interrupted them, and how she got lost in the forest after the battle against Team Rocket. She described the experience of trying to call out to Mackie. But, as she put it, he ignored her, in spite hearing all of her shouts and being at the back of the group.

"Bad thing was, I lost my bearings; didn't know if I was going the right way. Even worse, I lost it while Peter used his Smoke Screen on Team Rocket. And it got even worse. I tried to walk towards Eterna City, but I eventually ended up at a dead end when the smoke cleared. I forgot how I even got to that dead end. And I spent hours trying to find my way out of the forest, getting berries on the way and fending off wild Pokemon who wanted to put up a fight.

"Eventually, I got angry with a certain _Music Note Pokemon _for leaving me behind, even though _he _was the one at the back end of the pack," Catherine said slowly, turning her head towards the frightened Mackie.

"Heh-heh," Mackie said sheepishly, trying to sound normal, "I didn't hear you well, but...did you come here for revenge?"

"Well, I_ had _planned to come to Eterna City to get revenge on you..." Catherine said, eyeing Mackie, now ready to face whatever Catherine had planned for him.

Mackie did fear her Ice Beam. He knew that Ice Beam was more effective against Dragon-type Pokemon, Grass-type Pokemon, Ground-type Pokemon, and, of course, Flying-type Pokemon, like him. He did not want to faint through freezing.

"Oh please!" Mackie begged. "I do not like the cold! Even before I became I Chatot, I wanted to wear three layers of winter clothes so I can't feel the harsh coldness of wintertime! And I don't want to faint through an Ice Beam!"

Many backed away, but Peter spoke up and said, "Catherine, can you just listen to him? You are not helping us if you keep on holding a grudge against him. In fact, Flame is already scared. Just look at him."

Catherine looked at Flame right behind Peter. He looked scared, being curled down. He sounded scared. Of course, he _was _scared.

"You don't understand, Peter!" Catherine yelled at him as she punched him with her ears.

Peter was thrown back from the force of the punch. Some immediately came to aid him. Others just remained silent and eyed him and Catherine. Flame

"What was that for?" Peter shouted as he quickly recovered. "Good thing Dizzy Punch has no guarantees whether it will confuse the target or not. But, are you really _this _mad at Mackie? Maybe you got it all wrong!"

Peter's shout was loud enough to silence Catherine.

"You said Mackie ignored you. But can you at least listen to Mackie's side of the story? You can never know who did what until you hear the story from everyone's side."

"And that makes the story a dodecagon!" Mark joked, catching the attention of everyone and even making Tody and Leafy laugh, but was quickly silenced by an electric shock from Nicolas.

"This is a serious matter, Mark," Nicolas warned. "If you make another bad joke, I'll shock you with a lot more volts than what I just did to you. And there are some more moves I know, so beware."

Mackie wanted to add "Hey, I have never seen you use a more powerful Electric-type move before, but maybe because I joined the Station a little late, or maybe I missed it," but he decided to keep it to himself. That made him think about what to bring up by the next official Pokemon Station meeting.

"Disregard Mark's joke, Catherine," Peter said, "but please, can you let Mackie tell what happened from his point of view? It won't hurt at all if he told his story, right?"

Catherine thought about it for a while. Peter backed away, prepared for a "No," as her answer.

Much to his relief—and everyone else's relief—she acceded and said "OK, I guess it doesn't hurt if Mackie told what happened from his view."

Mackie made a sigh of ease. "Finally, I can tell what really happened!

"Basically I wasn't part of the battle in the forest _at all_. Except for the part where I swooped in and pecked at the Team Rocket baddies when Peter covered the battlefield with smoke and more smoke. Before the smoke cleared, I flew upwards and perched myself on a branch of a nearby tree. I decided to see if you would hear me follow you, so I flew down from the tree and followed the group of friends from a safe distance. I noticed that Catherine wasn't there. Then I heard—"

A loud alarm rang from inside the building.

"Save the story for later!" Philipp shouted in surprise. "I think they finally noticed us!"

"How come the other guard took a long time warning the others inside the building?" Dave asked.

"I don't know, Dave," Wallace said, ready to run into the building, "but now, I think our job now is to take down Team Galactic in the building." He faced Mackie. "After this, you can continue the story. To be honest, this is more urgent than your story. Maybe they're the team that transformed all of us into Pokemon."

"I can see that;" Mackie replied, "besides, the only people I saw so far from the past few days wore the same uniform. And the story—well, I don't know if we can take them down. From just looking at the building, we might be going for a bumpy ride."

"Of course, we're going to take them _all _down!" Mark exclaimed. "Look at us! Fifteen Pokemon, all of them former humans! Most of us already know some powerful moves, like Catherine's Ice Beam! How can you _not _say we're going to defeat the people inside that building?"

"There's always the possibility that there'll be more than 15 people there." Frank guessed. "Even worse, each of them may have more than one Pokemon to fight us with."

"There's always teamwork, Frank," Clive pointed out.

"And we can make the bad guys run away in fear if we can all work together!" Leafy exclaimed cheerily.

All eyes were on her. "Um, should I save that line for later?" Leafy asked shyly.

"Actually, yes, Leafy, you should," Mary answered.

Leafy blushed in embarrassment.

"Now, is everyone ready to raid the building and get some answers why we're like this?" Dave yelled to everyone.

"Can we at least plan the attack?" Anne asked.

"Anne has a point there, Dave" Wallace said to him. "What if they trap us the moment we enter the building?"

"Good idea, Wallace," Dave replied. "What about...we try to...get them all out of the building?"

"And what? Retreat to another building with even more enemies?" Wallace countered. "We really need to make a plan for the attack."

"But how can we plan to attack a building if we don't even know what it looks like inside?" William pointed out.

"I already considered that, William," Wallace answered, "and it's a good thing Anne's a Meditite."

"Let me guess—" Anne supposed, "I'll check the layout of the building and the people there so you can properly plan the attack, right?"

"Yes, you're right. May you please scout ahead and check the premises, please?"

"Oh yes, I'll see what I can do..."

Anne went ahead from everyone else, as she tried to check what was inside the building without going inside at all. Everyone watched her quietly from a far.

"It's amazing what people can do in just four days," Nicolas remarked, "especially when a lot of them get transformed into Pokemon and try to get used to the new senses and circumstances."

"Yes, Nicolas, that's sort of true," Wallace said calmly. He then raised his voice. "Look, she's coming back!"

Anne was indeed running back to them. Tired. That did not look good.

"What's wrong Anne? Are the people there too powerful for us to handle?" Mark yelled at her, impatient for answers.

"How am I supposed to know?" Anne shouted back, much to the surprise of everyone."The alarm is driving me nuts! And I can't think properly if that alarm keeps on ringing on my head all the time!"

"So that means we have to go in without a complete and proper plan?" Wallace asked.

"We can build the plan as we go in the building," Anne answered.

"It's all brute force at the beginning, then you slowly add the thinking part of the plan as we go through the building—" Philipp explained. "is that what you're trying to say?"

"Kind of, but it's good, nonetheless."

"Can we get ready to attack the headquarters already?" Dave asked impatiently.

"Of course, Dave! You lead the way!" Wallace answered boldly.

Dave made his way to the front of the group. "Are you ready?" Dave yelled at them. "I'll give you sixty seconds to prepare!"

Everyone else prepared to run into the building, ready to go when Dave told them so.

* * *

"Psst, hey Peter," Flame whispered.

"What now, Flame?" Peter whispered back, patiently waiting for Dave to say "Go!"

"Remember, when you were still a human, the times when I fought for you?"

"Of course I do! Why?"

"Well, there were times when I said to you, 'I'll show them what you have taught me!' and 'I'm going to let them see what I can do!' even though I knew that you would only hear 'Cynda, Cyndaquil!'"

"Uh, yeah. So?"

"Now, it's like I'm repaying you, or something like that. Repaying you for caring for me and teaching for me. And I'm repaying you by teaching you what I know."

"You're really like that?"

"Not just me. When we—me, Tody and Leafy—figured out our trainers were now Pokemon, we were first shocked with surprised. Then, we thought we were dreaming. But, when we realized it was _not _a dream, and that you being a Pokemon was real, there were many things going on in my head, like "How will my trainer continue his journey as a Pokemon trainer?", "How will he even survive being a Pokemon?" and other questions like that. But, after the initial surprise settled, we realized we can now do one thing we can do properly to our trainers: To pay them back for all the things they've done for us. We knew that there were many opportunities for us to not just teach you the things Pokemon can do, but we can also pay you back, for all the things you've done."

"So, it's sort of like Mother's Day and Father's Day, and we're the fathers and mothers being honored, and that this celebration will last as long as we're Pokemon?"

"Sort of. Besides, what's Mother's Day and Father's Day?"

"Oh right, you don't celebrate those kinds of days, don't you?"

"I don't. I don't think it's necessary for us Pokemon to have those days because, before I was captured, I used to honor my parents everyday, so it's like Parent's Day, only it occurs everyday. Almost every week, I would give them a gift—whether it was a handful of some special or favorite berries, something nice I was able to make from the things around me, or even something shiny on the ground. If you were to come into my old home someday, you're going to see many of the things I made them. I just hope that my parents haven't been captured, as far as I am concerned."

Peter thought about it for a while. Wasn't everyday a day to honor one's parents and give them a gift? Even the simple gift of obedience that can be given to them everyday?

"Now is the time to attack the building! Go!" Dave ordered loudly.


	28. The Darkness

**Chapter 27**

**The Darkness**

_"We can always find something to be thankful for, and there may be reasons why we ought to be thankful for even those dispensations which appear dark and frowning" ~ Albert Barnes_

* * *

With all alarms ringing, the group of friends pushed their way through the door. The nearby guards who were waiting for this very moment let out their Pokemon, but they were outnumbered by the fifteen former humans attacking their Pokemon. All of them ran for their lives, some out of the building, some upstairs. In just minutes, the first floor was clear of any threats, yet it was all messed up with puddles here and there, burned areas on the tiled floor, and other things that would make the room ravaged.

"Did you see what you did back there, Peter?" Flame asked his trainer. "You beat them up like a natural!"

"Well, maybe it's because I learn quickly, like _you _do," Peter replied.

"Save the comments for last, Peter," Catherine said.

"So, what's the status so far?" Philipp asked, a bit exhausted after attacking them.

"Other than the fact that we smoked those guys so bad?" Mark answered back with pride.

"Well, other than _that_, obviously," Anne reported, "We're in the lobby. Dave, what do you suggest as your next move, as long as it's not another rush upstairs without thinking."

"Well, we can either take the stairs now," Dave said as he pointed to the staircase that led to the second floor. "Or...we can go to that room over there."

Dave pointed towards a passageway. It was strange to them that it had no door; just a passageway. But, then again, it might be a trap. But, what he did not know was that traps were sometimes preceded by curiosity.

Dave was about to rush into the room when Wallace halted him in his tracks. "Hold on, Dave. What if this is a trap? That room is more than big enough to hold all of us! What if there were trap doors that would close on us when all of us are in there? And what would happen to us there?"

"Wallace, I think you're acting a bit too paranoid," Dave reasoned. "Besides, what if we find something useful in that room like a secret elevator or even some berries?"

"But Dave—" Wallace began.

"But what, Wallace?" Dave argued. "Do you think that little room has spikes on the floors? Do you think the walls will close on us? You're just too paranoid as always. Besides, what about the time you were scared of going to the beach because you thought there might be quicksand?"

Mark began to snicker, and others began to laugh too.

"And the time when we went to Nabiki Beach back at Almia?" Dave continued.

"Oh, please, don't tell _that_, Mark, especially in front of _these!_" Wallace said, begging Dave to stop. "You know that it's supposed to a secret between you, me and Mark."

"Yeah, between the two of you and me," Mark said as he laughed loudly, thinking about that incident kept secret to only the tree of them.

"You should really listen to Wallace, Dave!" Anne scolded. "If he wants to keep it as a brotherly secret, then you better keep it a secret!"

"Even if it's a _really_ funny secret," Mark said, yet found himself still chuckling between words as he thought about the secret that only he and his brothers knew.

Dave was silent for a while, then spoke up slowly. "You know what? I'm going to tell it—"

Wallace gasped, Mark anticipated the retelling of that funny moment, and some who were concerned about Wallace were ready to explain to Dave why he should not tell it.

"Eventually!" Dave shouted loudly above the other voices. A bit too loudly.

"Hey, they're still down there!" A voice from upstairs yelled. "Bring down the remaining forces!"

"Quick! Hide in that room!" Dave ordered as all of them hurriedly rushed to the room.

Entering the room, the group of friends noticed that the room did not seem out of the ordinary. But they heard the foosteps getting louder and louder, so they hid. Most of them tried to hide under the nearby table, which was not big enough for all fifteen of them to fit. So the rest of them hid under the chairs, behind desks, and even in and behind the oddly-placed electric appliances—a microwave, a washing machine, a refrigerator, an electric fan, and a lawnmower—standing in a straight line in the middle of the room.

And the more they hid, they heard the footsteps became more numerous and closer to the room. Would there be a lot more than fifteen guards and grunts ready to fight them? And, what if each of them had more than one Pokemon to fight them with? Fifteen against...thirty? Forty-five? Even sixty? Clearly, it seemed unlikely that they had to fight against sixty or even forty-five Pokemon.

As the guards seemed to amass, Dave went out of the room to check how many were going to fight them. But when the moment he was outside, the guards spotted, released their Pokemon and ordered them to attack Dave. With many close calls, he ran back inside the room.

"Did you see how many are going to fight us?" Catherine whispered from behind a desk.

"Not sure—I lost count after around fifteen..."

"So there's more than fifteen people who will try to fight and trap us?" Wallace asked.

"That's overkill," Frank commented. "If they just want to put us in a cage or maybe even hold us hostage, why won't they just try to—"

"Haven't you seen yourself fight the guards earlier?" Clive said. "We've only been Pokemon for four days, and look at us! Many people will mistake us as natural Pokemon, because we fight a lot like them!"

"Well, that sort of makes sense," replied Frank. "But what doesn't make sense is how we can learn these attacks and techniques in such a short length of time."

"They can hear us!" Nicolas interrupted in panic. "There must be a way to block them from coming here somewhere like a button or a switch or something!"

Then, as if on cue, he yelped as the passageway was suddenly closed by two metal doors, preventing anyone from outside coming in. Immediately, there was banging on the metal doors, demanding them to open the doors.

"OK, now who closed the doors on them?" Wallace asked, as he crawled out of the chair he was hiding under.

He looked at Leafy who was now the doors in surprise. She looked at Wallace, noticing that he was looking back at her.

"Uh...I did it?"

"Good for you, Leafy," Mary complimented. "What did you press?"

"There was a button behind one of those generator thingies," she explained. "I didn't know what it would do so I just pressed it."

"At least we're safe from a horde of guards and grunts that want us caged," Mackie observed.

"Looks like curiosity got the better of you, Leafy," Wallace remarked.

"Does that mean I saved you on accident?" Leafy happily asked Wallace.

"I got to hand it to you, Leafy; you really did save us on accident. And that heroic act was...unexpected."

"Unexpected?" Leafy repeated.

"Unexpected as in, we did not see it coming, or, we were not expecting you to do that," Wallace answered.

"Oh, uh..." Leafy stammered. "Thank you?"

"We're grateful you did that, Leafy," Frank said kindfully. "We're really thankful that you trapped us in this room!"

"What!" Leafy exclaimed in surprise.

"It's a little obvious, Leafy," Philipp explained as het sat down on the oddly-placed microwave. "There's no other door in here, and so far, there's no secret passage or anything like that. And who's on the other side of the door? A lot of Team Galactic baddies. We're outnumbered. And we have to act now, because I'm pretty sure they're going to smash the doors sooner or later."

"What do we do now?" Flame asked in fear.

"We need to find some help, fast!" William quickly answered.

"And where are we going to find help, Mudkip?" Philipp asked, sternly stressing the last word.

"Was that on purpose?" William answered back, surprised to hear Philipp saying this.

"I'm so stressed already, OK?" Philipp replied. After a while, he sat down on the floor, sighing."Sometimes, I wonder if we're ever going to turn back into humans. It's only been four days, but there are times when I really want to be a human again."

"Boy, this is getting emotional," Anne muttered under her breath.

"Were you supposed to say that when it seems like we're never getting out of this room?" Clive asked Philipp.

"I don't think so, Clive," Philipp answered, "because I'm really sure we're going to get out somehow. I'm just saying what I feel right now."

"Philipp," Mackie called out as he flew from his hiding place to be beside him, "eventually, you have to get used to it. There's no quick fix to these sort of things."

"I know that, Mackie. Problem is, it seems that I'm the one who's having the hardest time getting used to this new form. My tail feels more like a burden than a...tail. And I'm a bit afraid that I might become more clumsy because of my tail."

"Don't worry, Philipp!" Tody, his Totodile, spoke up. "A lot of us have tails, too! And maybe some of the ones who have been transformed are having a hard time using their tails, too!"

"He does have a point there, Philipp," Nicolas said.

But he—and mostly everyone else except Philipp—was surprised when he saw the microwave slowly got bigger and grew a spike on the middle. It started to have a red aura around it. Immediately, everyone was alarmed and even Philipp got off the microwave.

"I knew it Dave! This _is _a trap!" Wallace shouted.

"OK, I'm sorry that I ordered everyone to come here!" Dave apologized. "I didn't know it was a trap back then! I don't know if that microwave is going to put us into a cage or if it will destroy us, but it's my fault that we're all in this same room, about to face the fury of a microwave!"

Mark laughed at Dave's last statement. "You got to be kidding me! We're going to fight a microwave? A remote control microwave at that? Or maybe even a ghost?"

And that's when Frank realized what the microwave really was.

"Oh no, guys. I don't think that's just a strange microwave," Frank said in panic. "I think that's _the _ghost of the Old Chateau!"

"Ghost!" Tody, Leafy and Flame screamed in unison. "Aaaah!" They were running everywhere, trying to find a place to hide from the 'ghost.'

"Wait, I don't think it's actually a ghost, Frank," Catherine corrected. "It's more like the _Plasma_ _Pokemon_, Rotom!"

"It's a ghost _Pokemon!_" The threesome yelled from their hiding places, still scared of encountering a Ghost-type Pokemon.

"It's not just a Ghost-type Pokemon," Frank said as he backed away from the changing microwave. "It's also an Electric-type Pokemon. And even worse, it can enter and control almost any kind of machinery and appliance—like those appliances in the room!" That alone made the three natural Pokemon hide and panic all the more.

The change was finally done. The microwave did not look like an ordinary microwave anymore. It had a red aura around it, had claws made out of the red aura, had eyes with red irises, had scary and sharp teeth, and a spike from the middle of the surface.

Everyone was ready to fight the Plasma Pokemon.

"Oh finally!" Rotom exclaimed. "Are you guys going to set me free?"

"Free you?" Peter wondered. "I thought you were going haunt us!"

"If you were trapped in here weeks ago, I_ would _haunt you until you fainted from being scared so much!" Rotom said with pride.

"You're a nice Pokemon, Rotom?" Flame uttered as he slowly crawled away from his hiding place.

"Or are you trying to trick us?" Leafy said sternly as she brashly got out of her hiding place and readied her fighting stance.

"And what happened to you weeks ago?" Philipp asked as he cautiously walked from his hiding place.

"Oh right, I haven't introduced yourself to you yet," Rotom said.

"Actually," Mackie spoke up, "Frank here introduced you to us while you were inside that little microwave."

"He knows much about me?" Rotom asked, wondering how someone else could have known much about him other than his name. "Are you a friend of Charon? But, let's just save that for later; besides, if you _are _going to free me, should I at least know your names? All fifteen of you and your names? I'm sorry if it is a burden for the Chatot—"

"It's Mackie, Rotom," Mackie said, introducing himself.

"Right, Mackie. Wait, that sounds a lot like a human name! Are you a former human? They've been "

"Most of us are, actually," Peter said.

"Well, where was I? OK—Mackie, can you introduce all of your friends to me?" requested Rotom.

"This is going to be one long introduction," Mackie whispered to himself.

And so, Mackie took the responsibility of introducing everyone in the room—even Tody, Leafy and Flame, the natural Pokemon—to Rotom. After the introduction, he was clearly tired.

"I can't believe twelve of you used to be human until four days ago! I can ask you a lot of questions of how you felt and operated when you used to be human and even more questions about how you feel about being a Pokemon now. But, there are some things you should know the moment when you were transformed."

"Did Team Galactic transform all of us?" Wallace asked, yearning to know the answer.

"Let's put it like this:" answered Rotom. "Yes and no. Now, before you get surprised, let me explain: Yes, Team Galactic thought up of the plan to transform all of us, but honestly, I don't know why. But, it turns out that Team Galactic did not have the resources to execute the plan, so they turned to another evil organization to supply the resources to execute the plan. So, to make the long story short: Team Galactic makes the plan, the other team makes the plan happen."

"So, it's not completely Team Galactic's fault?" Philipp questioned.

"The plan all comes from Team Galactic," replied Rotom, "but Team Galactic did not do it. That's what I'm saying."

"Do you know anything more about the transformations, Rotom?" Frank asked.

"There _are _a few things I saw when the transformations happened. I was outside at that fateful night, on the roof of this very building. I was having fun with a new hobby I have: People-watching. A Pokemon trainer was passing by the building. Then, the first unusual thing I saw was that the sky seemed to blink white then fade back into a dark, starry sky. I looked up to see if the sky would blink again. It didn't. Then, I looked down to see the trainer, but instead of a human, I saw a Pokemon—a Froslass to be exact—laying on the ground, sleeping, maybe even unconscious."

Most of the others came closer to listen to Rotom's story, in spite of the continuous banging on the doors.

"Rotom, you better make it quick," Nicolas warned. "Those guys won't be patient for long."

"Sorry to cut the long story short," Rotom said as fast as possible, "but, when morning came, the only others humans I saw were members of Team Galactic. Everyone else in the region was a Pokemon. I knew it because I eavesdrop on Team Galactic sometimes, and even Charon told me about the plan to change every human—except loyal members of Team Galactic, of course—into Pokemon. He didn't tell me why they had to do it.

"So, for a while, I stayed here, in this room, with five electronic appliances so I can change form. Think of it as I'm trapped here, because I'm not allowed to come out of the building and sometimes even this very room, except when Charon told me to get out. And that leads us to this very hour."

"I'm sorry to interrupt, Rotom, but, who _is _Charon?" Anne asked. "Is he your trainer?"

"Not exactly a Pokemon trainer, if that's what you're saying."

Rotom's form changed quickly, as he and the microwave split. Moments later, the microwave returned to normal, leaving behind Rotom's usual form.

"Years ago," Rotom continued, "I was operating a lawn mower in front of an old mansion. Then, I stayed still when I watched Charon trying to find something. It turns out to be a toy robot. Then, I got out of the lawn mower. He was really scared back then—he was holding on to his toy robot!

"I came closer to him. He sure was scared. He thought I was about to shock him with electricity. But in reality, he seemed to be a nice guy. The reason is that many people consider me a rare Pokemon—and I am one! So many people would do anything to catch me. But Charon—back then, he just seemed scared of me, which was a bad first impression since I wanted to be friends with him. When he realized that I wanted to be friends with him, he named me 'Rotom.'

"Oh, I forgot to tell you that I practically had no name before that moment. So what you are calling me now is what he calls me."

The bangs on the door started to get louder and louder.

"They're going to break the door if we take too long!" Mark yelled.

"So he just wanted to be friends with you, not to catch you or anything like that?" Tody asked in curiosity.

"Yes, sort of like that. He didn't catch me with a Poke Ball, didn't tell anyone about me, and so on and so forth. He wanted to keep me a secret. I don't know why, though. Maybe he knew that I was a rare Pokemon and he was scared of anyone else trying to take me away from him.

"Another thing: There were times when he wanted to hold me and touch me with his own hands, yet this aura of electricity I'm surrounded in makes it impossible for him to hold me without getting shocked. But, of course, we still had a great friendship with each other, even though we weren't able to even touch each other. Besides, I've heard of strong relationships between two people separated by great distances.

"But, one day, he—"

"You won't be safe in there for long!" A voice shouted from behind the metal doors.

"Save the back story for later, Rotom!" Mackie hollered at him. "We have dozens and dozens of guards just outside those doors!"

"Do you have any plans?" Rotom asked.

"I'm the leader of this operation, so I'll think of one!" boasted Dave.

"Then, think fast, Dave!" Mary advised. "We don't have much time before they come crashing through the doors!"

"I think I should help in your plan, Dave," Anne requested, "since, as they say, two heads are better than one. And besides, I can also detect their next moves."

"Rotom!" Dave called out, ignoring Anne's request. "You're an Electric-type and a Ghost-type Pokemon, right?"

"Of course I am," Rotom answered. "Why do you ask?"

"Rotom," Dave ordered, "I need you to turn invisible, get past those doors, and turn off the lights in the lobby. Can you do that?"

"I can do that, Dave!" Rotom yelled as he turned invisible.

"Don't forget to open the doors up for us, Rotom!" Mark shouted.

Yet, Mark doubted that Rotom heard his plea to open the doors when he was done with taking care of the grunts.

* * *

"They won't see it coming," Rotom mumbled to himself as he went past the guards, invisible and undetected. Moving sneakily towards the light source, he readied himself for "turning it off."

"Good thing it's nighttime out there," Rotom muttered. "That means it will be like a full blackout!"

"Who said that?" One of the guards said. "Are you with the intruders?"

"If I told you," Rotom said quietly, playing with the guards, "you wouldn't understand me. I'm a Pokemon, after all."

"Show yourself!" Another guard shouted as he turned to his back to see who was talking to them. "I'm warning you! I have strong Pokemon! I'm not easy to beat, you know! And you multiply that by dozens and dozens of more guards! You think you're strong, huh? One against twenty, huh? Come on! Show yourself!"

"Lights out!" Rotom shouted loudly as he revealed himself and released beams of light and electricity at the sources of light.

One second there was light, the next, there was none.


	29. Lead Up

**Chapter 28**

**Lead-Up**

_"If you're lying, you're lying. " ~ John C. Maxwell_

* * *

The lights went out. Darkness covered them. They could not see a thing, save for the things that were touched by the faint moonlight. And the moonlight itself. The darkness did not seem to end. They were wondering when the light will come back to them.

Chaos and shouts were the only two things the Galactic guards heard and felt. At least for a little while until their eyes became accustomed to the darkness, which made them see their surroundings with some difficulty.

_Oh no, I'm going to be in big trouble if they see me, _Rotom thought in his head as he tried to hide in the crowded room.

"Everybody, calm down!" A booming voice sounded. It came from a clearly high-ranking guard.

"Wait, was that a Pokemon that turned off the lights?" One of the more powerful guards asked gruffly.

"Don't know, but it must have been an Electric-type Pokemon!" Another guard replied. "Or at least a Pokemon who knows an electric move!"

"So that narrows it down to just maybe half a dozen or so," The first guard stated, "since we didn't get many Electric-type Pokemon."

"Good thing there is a backup electric energy shield between those two doors," another guard reminded. "So, if any of the Pokemon inside was able to smash down the doors, it would almost be impossible for him or her to get through the shield."

"Except maybe...Ghost-type Pokemon," the first guard said, "and, let me guess, Electric-type Pokemon! I've heard zaps when the group of Pokemon were infiltrating the headquarters!"

"Don't worry;" yet another guard chimed in, "Electric-type Pokemon will be overcharged and get very sick. Then, the electricity would start crackling around the Pokemon, and it would be very painful to other Pokemon. And besides, the electricity coming out of the energy shield is—"

He was interrupted by something abrupt. The lights were back on. They could see clearly now.

"OK, they're back on!" The powerful guard said, ordering, "The shield's back off! Now, let's keep on—hey, what's that!"

Rotom became surprised when he noticed that he was still visible. He quickly became invisible before anyone knew who was there.

"Was that a Ghost-type Pokemon?" one guard asked.

"Could be," the powerful guard said. "I don't know any other type of Pokemon that can turn invisible."

"Let's just get the Pokemon inside that room!" another guard yelled. "They're going to be great for our experiments!"

And almost everyone agreed with him, yet that mysterious Pokemon who zapped the lights still lingered in their thoughts. They pushed the door with all their might, and it seemed they were thinking about using their Pokemon to bring the doors crashing down. Rotom knew he did not have much time left before the guards will capture his newfound friends.

As Rotom stayed invisible, he wondered how the lights were able to be back on. Then, he figured it out.

_Backup generators, hmph! I hate those useless backup generators! Always doing their best to help Team Galactic catch me red-handed! Looks like I have to cut off the electricity once and for all!_

And so, he headed towards the room that had the backup generators, knowing where he is going. As he went past the walls and headed towards ceiling, the only thing he was worried about was if the guards would catch the Pokemon in the room first.

Then, he realized something he should have realized a while ago.

_The doors!_

* * *

They heard a loud zap.

Then, the lights went out. Darkness covered them. They could not see a thing; no, not a single thing was in their vision, save for some who were able to at least see a bit in the night. There was no windows there to let the moonlight shine upon them. Light, they could not find.

"Aah!" The three natural Pokemon screamed, even though they expected the blackout along with the rest of those inside the room.

"Please, stay calm; You're just going to cause more trouble!" Peter pleaded, especially to his own Pokemon, Flame.

But no, the trio of Pokemon running in the dark were too scared by the dark to even listen. They ran whichever way they were going, occasionally bumping into others who were telling them to stop and even bumping into themselves, for they can not see anything without any light. At least not until their eyes got accustomed to the darkness.

It seemed to get worse. They were all startled and silenced by a humming sound coming from the door. Almost everyone readied their fighting stance.

"Wait, I sense electricity behind that door!" Stephen informed. "The electricity is so intense!"

"Maybe it's a super powerful Electric-type Pokemon behind the door!" Clive guessed. "Are you sure we can take down that Pokemon?"

"We're not even sure if that's even a Pokemon behind the door," Wallace stated. "It could be some dangerous electrical charge."

"There you go again, Wallace," Dave said, reminding him of his paranoia, "acting all paranoid again."

"But Dave—" Wallace tried to explain.

"We went into this room—the very same room that you're afraid to go into—and, guess what? A friendly Pokemon comes out of his microwave form—"

"It's Heat Rotom," Frank corrected.

"Yeah, Heat Rotom. Well, he is helping us as we speak. In perhaps a few more minutes, he is going to help us get out of here. And you're still scared of just several meters of space between us and the rest of the floor? Besides, what if it's—"

"Tell me, Dave;" Wallace interrupted sternly, "How can something or some kind of Pokemon with that much electricity in it be a good thing? Huh?"

"Well," Mark chimed in, "we can use a powerful Electric-type Pokemon as a renewable source of energy and electricity for—"

"That's not the point, Mark," Wallace replied. "Everyone else, stay back. This sibling rivalry might end ugly..."

"Are you sure about this, Wallace?" Mackie asked, with much concern for the brothers. "I mean, can you at least please settle this like a diplomat?"

Leafy hid behind Mary. "Mary, I'm scared," she said in a frightened voice.

Tody also went and hid. Philipp slowly backed away from the two fighting brothers and told them, "Hey! We don't need some violence in this group already. It's only four days since we've been transformed into Pokemon, and now, you're already about to fight! Don't you know what's going to happen, especially since you're Pokemon?"

"Yeah, listen to them, Wallace!" Dave shouted at him. "This all started just because you said, 'But what if this happens?' 'But what if this or that happens and we are bound to cages?'"

The silence was interrupted by something abrupt. The lights were back on. They could see clearly now.

"Hey, the lights are back on!" Clive said cheerily.

"I can see properly again!" Tody exclaimed.

And with the light, went away the humming sound.

"It stopped humming!" Anne noticed.

"So that means it wasn't an Electric-type Pokemon behind the door," William concluded. He faced Nicolas. "Nicolas, you said that you felt a lot of electricity coming behind that door."

"Of course," Nicolas responded. "Perhaps it's some sort of backup generator of some sorts."

"Or perhaps, an energy shield," Wallace concluded. "Do you ever hear an Electric-type Pokemon or a backup generator hum like that?"

"I agree," Catherine followed suite, but then asked, "but how are we getting out of this room?"

"Just trust Rotom, Catherine," Mackie said with a smile on his face, calming her down but not able to calm himself down of the fact that Catherine _just _might still be angry at him. "Just trust him. It's not like he's going to betray us, is he?" He sheepishly faced Catherine. "And it's not like I'm going to push you off a window, is it?"

"What did you just say to me?" Catherine exclaimed angrily.

"You don't sound so sure, Mackie," Mark remarked seriously. "And hey, what's with that innocent grin? Are you OK?"

"Uhh..." Mackie stuttered, trying to stay calm. But now, his hidden emotion was given away and revealed for everyone to see.

Then, they heard something banging really hard on the door on the other side.

* * *

Rotom floated to the ceiling above him. Going past the ceiling, the surroundings around him suddenly and abruptly changed. The utter chaos below him—he did not hear anymore. The rush and panic that happened on the second floor—he could feel it now.

People were running. Some ran upstairs, scared that around fifteen dangerous Pokemon might harm them. Most of the guards went downstairs, but there was hesitation. If the doors containing the fifteen Pokemon would be opened, would around thirty or even forty guards—with a small arsenal of Pokemon for each—guard flee at the sight of fifteen Pokemon?

Some scientists and researchers panicked and went upstairs for safety. The brave ones stayed behind, perhaps either to finish their work or to defend themselves against the fifteen Pokemon, whether they were armed with Pokemon, with their inventions, or with their own bare hands. Nonetheless, these fearless scientists were as zealot for their organization's goal and purpose as the guards were and, like the guards, they would do almost anything to defend Team Galactic.

Everyone on the floor was alert, watching everyone else's backs. Everyone on the floor was protecting everyone else. There was no time to let one's guard down.

But, no matter how wary they were, they did not see or even detect the invisible Rotom. He almost laughed at their "futile" attempts to capture the fifteen Pokemon. He knew that, if everything was going according to the plan, most of them would just run and bump into each other when the lights turned off. Worse, they might try to attack the "intruders" with their Pokemon, only when it is too late that they will realize that they attacked friendly Pokemon and maybe attacked even themselves.

It seemed it would be a breeze to Rotom. He passed by everyone without being seen, and no one was not even suspicious of a Ghost-type Pokemon hovering in the room. They were all in full alert, so worried about the fifteen powerful Pokemon trapped in the room downstairs, yet they had no worry that their backup generators would be zapped by an unseen Pokemon.

Then, Rotom went through a wall, and his environment suddenly changed again. The light was gone. The rush, panic, and alertness from seconds ago were gone. Instead, it was silent, even a little creepy. But he knew what was inside this room.

Backup generators.

* * *

"What is going on here, Mackie?" Catherine asked, looking angry. "Tell the truth or I'm going to Ice Beam it out of you!"

Mackie sighed. Honest _is _the best policy, isn't it?

"Well, when Rotom went out of this room, something in me clicked. It seemed that I've forgotten that you've wanted revenge on me. I can't believe time passes by so fast."

"Yeah, I think it's too fast;" Mark commented, "We arrived here in the afternoon; after we went out of the Gardenia Gym, it was close to sunset; then, when we went out of the Pokemon Center, it was already sunset, then after the battle with the Skuntank, the sun has already set. Now, it's nighttime already, and I know why—"

Mark got slapped on the face by Anne. "Mark, stop breaking into conversations like that."

"But it hurts!" Mark complained.

"Just remain silent and listen, OK?" Mackie requested. "Before I go back to the story, I think Rotom is already near the backup generators so I have to cut the long story short." Mackie coughed nervously. "So, to cut the long story short: I thought Catherine still had a revenge plan, so I was making a counter-revenge plan."

"What!" Almost everyone yelled in surprise, especially Catherine.

Mackie looked at her. She looked angry indeed. How could he have the courage to continue speaking the truth to her? And yet, he went on.

"I planned...to throw you out of a window if you attacked me. It was sort of like a self-defence strategy. Thing is, I started to feel that you were more powerful than me, since it seems that you know how to attack me with Ice Beam, and attacks that have ice with them...they have a _big _advantage over Flying-types...like me." Mackie sighed, as if in surrender. "There you go, Catherine. You might as well hit me with all you got now..."

"There goes Catherine's temper..." Philipp commented.

"No, Mackie!" Mark shouted as he ran and blocked Mackie, being the only Pokemon between Catherine and Mackie.

"What are you doing?" Catherine yelled.

"What does it look like I'm doing?" Mark answered back. "I know that I'm getting out of my way just to do this, but I'm protecting Mackie!" Then, Mark turned his back around to face the cowardly Chatot. "Why are you doing this, Mackie, allowing yourself to bear so much pain?"

"But, Catherine has to do this;" Mackie moaned with self-pity, "I deserve this, anyway. I was the one who accidentally abandoned her back there in Eterna Forest. It's only just for me to bear so much pain; maybe it's even just enough for me to faint through freezing."

"Mackie, you don't have to do this. This is just pitying yourself, and self-pity is not a good characteristic, Mackie. In this case, you need mercy. And I think I know where I can find that mercy..."

Mark faced Catherine. "Hey, Catherine!"

Catherine's ears perked up. "What is it, now!"

"Why do you still need to be angry at Mackie? Besides, he abandoned you accidentally—he did not even know you were there back then. At best, you could expect him to plead for you to remove that thought of revenge from your mind. At worst, he could fly away from this place. So, please, don't do this to him!"

Mark's brothers were flabbergasted at what he did for Mackie. Almost everyone else just witnessed it with surprise.

"You're completely missing the point!" Catherine shouted at Mark with all her might. "You're not even letting me tell you what I am feeling!"

Everyone else became silent for a few seconds.

"First of and all and also the last but not the least, I already gave up on plotting revenge on Mackie when we became trapped in this room. That's it. Do you all get it, now?"

Everyone became surprsied at this sudden revealing, especially Mackie. To him, it meant that he did not need to face the suffering of revenge from Catherine. It meant that he did not need to be frozen. He was free from the grasp of revenge. And he was glad.

"You're really going to let go of your grudge on me!" Mackie hollered happily. "Oh thank you, thank you!" He was madly shaking Catherine's paw with his wings. His happiness did show through his face.

Mary, Tody, and Flame cheered that Catherine was not going to freeze Mackie. "Yay!" Mary yelled. "He's not going to be icy!"

* * *

Rotom turned out the lights, although he knew that almost everyone outside will notice the rays of light coming from the bottom of the door. And that alone would attract attention. It was not normal for lights to turn on by itself.

Rotom waited for a few seconds.

"Hey, there's light over there!" Rotom heard.

"Maybe it's that same Pokemon who zapped the lights back downstairs!" Another voice called out.

"Let's go catch it!" A domineering voice boomed.

Rotom heard footsteps coming his way. _Now is the time, _he thought.

He faced the backup generators. Slowly but surely, he charged as much electricity as he could into his body.

The footsteps sounded louder and louder with each step.

And, with all his might, he discharged all of the electricity straight to the backup generators.

* * *

The whole building was instantaneously plunged into darkness. And the fact that it was nighttime made the situation worse. The guards were unprepared for another trip to darkness. The situation became chaotic.

The electric shield came back up again.

What was left of the backup generators were pieces and smoke.

And what was left of the the people who opened the door...was unconscious bodies.


	30. Prevarication

**Author's Note: It's been a long time since I have done an Author's Note. First, I like to thank the people who reviewed this story, and also the people who made this story a favorite. Now, this may seem sudden, but if you want your own original character (OC) in the story, try. Post in it the review section. This does not mean I will accept every OC request, and I rarely accept any OCs, if I even do, but if you're brave enough to post an OC form, your character might just get in the story. The essentials are: Name, Age, Gender, The Pokemon your character is now, Personality, History. You can add extras if you want. Like I said, I rarely accept OCs, but maybe, just maybe, your character might be in the story.**

* * *

**Chapter 29**

**Prevarication**

_"__Half a truth is often a great lie,__" ~ Benjamin Franklin_

* * *

The explosion was great and dangerous, indeed. Debris were flying as the huge explosion violently scorched its surroundings. Enough to scorch their lives. And Rotom was shocked at what he saw and what he did to them.

Rotom did not anticipate this happening. He only expected them to be zapped, and maybe a little burned and a little flame on their clothes. He never wanted them to be zapped unconscious...or perhaps zapped dead. He did not want to be called a killer Pokemon. How would his new friends perceive this? He did not want his friends to be scared of him and he certainly did not want them to do their best to stay away from him. He had just made acquaintances with them. He did not want to make such a bad first impression—or perhaps, maybe a second impression—on them.

But he shrugged the thought out of his mind. He had to tell his friends about this sooner or later. It was better to reveal it to them immediately than to hide it and attain a growing guilt. He had to focus on the objective at hand. Now, he had to devise a way to shut down the electric energy shields.

* * *

"OK, the lights are out again!" Mark announced moments after the electricity was cut off and the darkness covered the room once more.

"Stay calm everybody!" Mackie yelled to every Pokemon in the room—whether former human or not. "I repeat! Stay calm! We don't want things to come crashing down on ourselves, you know!"

But, in spite of the clear warnings, some did not take heed and obeyed.

It seemed stubborn for Mary, Tody, and Flame to run around and scream in fear because of the darkness...again. Their trainers had expected them to mature and grow up, but these Pokemon did not come without faults or fears. And it was part of the trainers' duty to remove the unnecessary fears of their Pokemon, was it not?

"Hey, stop running around like that!" Philipp shouted demandingly at the fearful Pokemon, most especially to his own Pokemon, Tody. He wanted his Totodile to be strong and courageous and to remove his shyness and fear. Sure, many Totodile were playful with a good sense of humor. But, many of them also had a strong fighting spirit. And Philipp wanted his Totodile to be the same.

And, with that loud command, all three of them stopped whatever they were doing and immediately looked at Philipp and their trainers near him. Even the others turned their heads towards Philipp's direction, waiting for him or his Pokemon to start speaking.

"Tody, come up here!" Philipp commanded.

Tody came to him slowly as he stretched his hands out to see where he was going in the dark.

"Philipp, are you sure about doing this to him in front of everybody?" Peter whispered to him with concern. "I mean, it is OK to do it to him back in our house, but don't you think it would be—"

"Let bygones be bygones, Peter!" Philipp yelled at him. "Past things are past, OK? Us being in the house before all of us get transformed into Pokemon—that is the past. Tody about to get disciplined for running around in the dark even when they were supposed to be expecting and anticipating for that very moment—that's the present!"

"Are you even sure you know what you are saying, Philipp?" Mary asked, holding much pity for the Totodile.

But, Philipp ignored her. And gave Tody a harsh lashing. Too hard on such a precious, delicate yet fragile Pokemon. And, it was his own.

But before it was finished, Mackie interrupted the whole ordeal.

"What are you doing to your own Pokemon, Philipp?" Mackie asked in surprise.

"Yeah!" Anne followed suite. "That does not sound like proper discipline at all! You're just unleashing your anger on the poor little Totodile, and I can sense it!"

"Hey, I'm not poor and I'm certainly not _that _little!" Tody sounded off, with his arms crossed.

"Well, he does need the discipline!" Philipp yelled at Anne. "From time to time, you have to punish them to put them back in line—if you know what I'm saying, that is. I can never accept a single fear in any of my Pokemon!"

"Of course, Pokemon need discipline when it is needed," Wallace explained, "but I think Anne is right. It looks like you're just pouring out all your wrath on your own Pokemon without even thinking what it would do to him."

"And besides," Frank spoke up, "Pokemon sometimes _need _to be scared, and when they do, they will most likely run to their trainer."

"And what about the legendary trainers, the Elite Four, and even the champions?" Mary finally said, standing up to her own friend. "Were their Pokemon so tamed and trained when they were chosen? I don't think so. They were perhaps wild or young or maybe even a combination of both. But these trainers..." Mary stopped to sigh and breathe. "They...they did not go and bring out their rage on their Pokemon. Well, _maybe _they did it once or twice, but probably that was when they were inexperienced years and even decades ago. But, look at them now. You want to compete in an official championship, don't you, Philipp? Bottom line is, discipline them out of love next time."

Philipp was silent, thinking about what his friend was saying to him. Rage _did _seem a lot like love in the scene of discipline, did it not? They looked the same; yet, they were different in so many ways.

He sighed. "I guess you're right."

"Then, I think you know what to do," Peter said to Philipp as Peter nodded towards Tody.

"Apologize?" Philipp asked rhetorically.

Peter responded with a nod.

As Philipp and Tody apologized and hugged each other, Catherine commented quietly to herself, "This room just has too much drama."

* * *

"Rhye," a voice called out from the group.

The Honchkrow leading the entire camp heard it. Among the various sources of light in the night, among the chattering of the Pokemon as they walked through the forest, among the darkness, among the deepness of the straight, shadowed path—he heard the voice calling for him.

It turned out to be a Nuzleaf right beside him. He looked like he was a vigilant watcher—a guard, perhaps. Rhye knew it himself that he was a reliable guard. Even Dave, Mark, Wallace and company knew it.

"What do you want to say, Kenneth?"

"Rhye," Kenneth reported as he walked beside Rhye, "I think you overestimated the size and the complexity of the copious Eterna Forest,"

Sophisticated were his words. Yet, what was the meaning behind what the watcher said to him? "Overestimated the size and the complexity of the copious Eterna Forest"? What did he mean?

"Kenneth," Rhye said to the Nuzleaf, "I know you used to be a deep poet—or someone like that—along with being a guard and all before you were turned into a Nuzleaf but you have to make it easy for me to understand," Rhye was really irritated with his use of words that were not common in a conversation. So complicated and mysterious was he, even in his words in such casual talk.

"OK, Rhye," Kenneth spoke, conceding to Rhye's request. "In the layman's terms, it's not going to take a day or two for us to get to Eterna Forest."

"Really?" Rhye replied, half-surprised. "How long will it take us now? I hope it isn't several weeks, or even several fortnights."

"Actually, it's quite the contrary, Rhye," Kenneth answered with a smile. "We'll be out of Eterna Forest by...now."

Rhye and Kenneth finally saw something in the dark forest. At first, it was faint; too hard for them to discern it properly. Then, they noticed it was a white, wooden sign.

"To this part of Eterna Forest," Kenneth said to Rhye, "I am no stranger to."

"What do you mean you're not a stranger to this part of the forest?" Rhye asked. "You've been here before, Kenneth? And what's with the backward sentences?"

"Sorry, Rhye," Kenneth apologized, but added, "but I like to use them."

"If that is your lot," Rhye answered back, "then use your sort of sentences on your poems." He then changed topics. "Let's not get too far ahead of ourselves: Have you been here before Kenneth?"

"Yes," Kenneth responded, "I have been here many times before. And the last time I saw that sign, it said 'Northern Route 205 ahead. Ahead of Route 205: Eterna City'"

"And what are you trying to say about that, Kenneth?" Rhye asked. "Will we take less time in going to Eterna City, then?"

"Rhye," replied Kenneth, "since the northern part of Route 205 is very short—just a path, some rocky areas on the north, and a little lake with a wooden bridge over it—we could be in Eterna City in about—hard to believe it—...approximately twenty or even ten minutes."

* * *

It was utter chaos in the building. Rotom knew it as he went downstairs, going towards the room. For the moment, he did not care if they were able to see or not. He had no feelings of pity for the grunts and guards running to nowhere in particular, falling over and over again in doing so. He even chuckled a bit when two of them unknowingly bumped into each other. But of course, he kept the little laugh to himself, lest they would know a Pokemon is among them.

Then again, Rotom wondered if these members of Team Galactic were even trained at all. They seem naive, scared, cowardly, unbecoming of an honorable follower of the evil team. Rotom knew that the commanders and the administrators of the organization were smart and tactical. The scientists that they hired were bright and intelligent in mind and knowledge—yet, they were lost in their twisted morals. Being part of Team Galactic for a long while as perhaps a mere observer, he saw technology that he would have described as very advanced yet very obscured. Maybe no one else saw it, other than Rotom and the rest of those loyal to Team Galactic.

If that is so, then why do only three or four guards really know what they were doing? Would it not be logical for the lower-ranking members to be properly prepared? He wondered why they did not take the obvious path. They knew the consequences. But, it was a good thing for Rotom. That meant a lighter load for him to carry.

And thus, he silently passed through the wall, avoiding the dangerous energy shield.

* * *

Rotom was met with cheers from the three natural Pokemon. And just minutes ago, he was shunned as a scary ghost by the same Pokemon. Very fast were the things that go around in here.

"So, what did I miss?" Rotom asked as he went in the room.

"What did you miss?" Clive repeated. "You sure did miss _a lot _of things. So many things, you would have thought we had a mental disorder."

"More like an emotional disorder," Mark quietly commented, as he snickered at his own little joke.

"Let's go back to the matter at hand, Rotom." Frank told him. "And the question is: What do we do now?"

"And another question;" Leafy spoke up. "We heard some kind of sound when the lights went out earlier. It was gone when the lights returned, but when it became dark again, the sound was back. The sound is coming from there." She pointed at the door.

Rotom looked at it as if he knew what was behind the door.

"Nicolas said it emitted so much electricity, he thought it was an—" Mary began.

"Energy shield?" Rotom interrupted, leaving many of the Pokemon in the room surprised. "Good thing I learned there was an energy shield the easy way because Charon told me to be careful of it." He sighed. "Some daring hunters or some venturous Pokemon—or even both of them at once—would try to steal me, but when they break the doors, they barge in and get electrocuted so badly, I don't know even if they're living at all."

"It's like you warned us in the nick of time, eh?" William remarked.

"Yeah, William," Rotom commented. "Just in time, I guess."

"So, how do we get past the shields, huh?" Dave asked. "It's not like you can just turn it off."

"I understand, Dave;" Rotom replied, "breaking the backup generators did not turn it off, didn't it?"

"And it's not like you can teleport us from here to a safe place in the building, can you?" Mackie added.

"I don't think my kind can learn how to teleport at all, so, no quick transportation for all of you," Rotom apologized. "And—if anyone tries to propose this—there is _no way_ I will try to carry you and try to get you pass the walls. Only Ghost-type Pokemon and other certain Pokemon can do that sort of thing. Besides, if I tried, I would go into the wall while you hit the wall with your face."

"Oh, come on!" Mark complained, shaking his fists. "I was about to suggest that idea!"

"Too late then, Mark," Wallace said to his unpleasant brother. "But it's OK; besides, we will figure out the correct plan to get out of here and get some answers why we are like this—changed into Pokemon and all that."

"So, Rotom," Nicolas questioned, "do you have in mind a plan that will get all of us out of here _and _a plan that will give us at least some clues and hints why us former humans are Pokemon now?"

"Uhhh...uhhh..." Rotom stammered, then continued, "I _do _have a plan that _will _bring all sixteen of us out of this headquarters but what I _do not _have in mind is a plan that gives you some answers. I only knew _what _I saw the night you changed, though—remember what I told you earlier? The sky lighting up so bright? The trainer that turned into a Froslass?"

"Sure, we remember what you told us," Anne said, then added, "but if we knew what made us turn into Pokemon, at least we would know it. At most, we can use the information we have to our advantage."

"I can see where you are going," Rotom said. "But don't worry, I will think of a plan as I go along. First things first though." He looked at Mark.

"You, Mark!" Rotom called out.

"Yes, Rotom," Mark answered, as if in a stately matter. "What do you want me to do?"

"I hope you know how to smash that wall with Rock Smash, Mark," Rotom said, "because we are going to make a hole. And I'll tell you where to smash the wall, alright?"

"To be honest," Mark began truthfully, "I don't know if I can do it, but it'll be worth a try, I guess."

"A try will do, Mark," Dave encouraged. "At least we will know if you can do it or not."

"And it will be _so _good if you can do it," Rotom said, then orderd, "Now, Mark, here's the spot that you should try to smash through. I hope you can smash the wall rapidly, because we want them to think it's a dangerous tremor shaking under the ground. Or at least some kind of big drill that's trying to drill through the wall ..."

* * *

"Is the darkness already enough for you?" One guard cried out loud to no one particular as the ground shook. "Why are you bringing earthquakes on us? We can't even see a—oof!" The guard tripped and fell on the flat, metal floor.

"If a Pokemon is d-doing this," another guard stuttered with a scared voice, "then t-that Pokemon seems v-very powerful to m-me!"

"Hold on!" A high-ranking grunt proclaimed. "It looks like the Pokemon are trying to destroy the wall to get through!"

His statement caught the attention of the others in the huge, dark room. "If we all attack the particular spot that I will tell you, we can outnumber them and we can put them into a choke point that they surely can't escape! This could be our only chance to get rid of them, so attack them with all of your might!"

The other loyal grunts and guards in the room were enlightened by the words and sentences the seemingly valiant grunt spoke. What was unknown to them was that their courage was frail and fragile.

The sound of rumbling got louder, and it almost became deafening. But the guards still stood strong, ready to eliminate any enemies that were against Team Galactic with all their powers and abilities.

The rumbling got more violent, and the grunts were falling down, but they stood up soon after, willing to defend whatever they were ordered to protect at any price, and at all costs.

A part of the wall started to crumble, with debris of concrete falling from their places. They did not see it, but at least they could feel the debris hitting them.

The valiant grunt shouted, "Everyone! Follow the sound of my voice! I will lead you to the spot where we will attack the intruders!"

Surprisingly, almost everyone followed his instructions correctly.

The grunt touched the wall with his hand. It was shaking with great intensity.

"Quick, bring out all of your Pokemon!" the grunt ordered demandingly.

Pokemon started to appear in the room, and soon, the Pokemon outnumbered their trainers by a large ratio.

"This might be way too much firepower, but if these enemy Pokemon are very powerful, we need all the strength we want to get them falling to their knees!

"Now, when I say attack, attack!"

* * *

Rhye and Kenneth set foot on soil again, being the first ones to cross the little lake.

"So, is everyone here?" Rhye asked a Happiny.

"Well, Mister Rhye," reported the Happiny, "some of us are falling behind, tripping on the ground, some of them say they can't keep up with the pace of the camp, and a few children Pokemon were asking where their parents are, but other than that, all of us here."

"Then, tell everyone to get ready. Tell them to prepare whatever and whoever they brought because Eterna City is in our sights."

* * *

"When the big hole in the wall appears, don't attack them yet," Rotom commanded with pride. "Let them come in and then, we assault them!"

"What about me, Rotom?" Mark asked between gasps for air as he hit the wall with such powerful strength. "Do I have to hide too?"

"Immediately jump to our hiding place when you make that big, final smash that leaves the large hole in the wall," Rotom answered, "alright?"

"I'm OK with that!" Mark exclaimed, with his thumbs up at Rotom. "Hey, I'm almost there! Ready up for the hiding!"

And with one final swing of his arm, he—

* * *

The wall finally broke, leaving behind a hole and a little smoke rising in the air.

And there it was: the room where the Pokemon were trapped in.

"Attack, everyone! Attack!" the grunt screeched.

And attack they did. Fire and water clashed at the hole. Electricity was aimed at the hole. Fighting Pokemon jumped to the hole and tried to hit their tragets blindly, but to no avail. Even the ground began to collapse before them, but fortunately, it did not break into two. And many more attacks were coming at the hole, and everyone thought the Pokemon were gone for good.

"I think they're defeated," the grunt stated to the others. "But before we celebrate, let's check the damage. We don't want Commander Jupiter to get angry because the equipment are broken."

Slowly, he and the other grunts and guards walked towards the hole.

"Yes," Rotom silently spoke to them. "Come and walk right into our trap."

"Was that necessary?" Catherine asked.

"No," Rotom replied, "but they look so foolish; I don't think they even suspect that we might ambush them any moment."

More of them walked in, inspecting the damaged room.

"Hey! Where are the five appliances for Charon's Rotom?" one guard asked as he felt nothing but debris in the places of the five electronics.

"Now's the time to counter-attack!" Rotom ordered.


	31. Intromission

**Author's Note: (Those who wrote out the OC form must read this notice.) ****First of all, I would like to thank the people who reviewed, made this story a favorite, and/or put in on their stories with alerts. I appreciate it, yet I'm looking forward for more reviews that are actually reviews, and not just compliments.**

** Second, regarding original characters, Okami Saphira's character, Saphira, is accepted as an upcoming character, yet may not appear in the next few chapters for particular reasons. And even worse, she might only appear as a "character-of-the-chapter" character. But, this is subject to change.**

** The other one who wanted an original character in the story, caman213, might be a little disappointed to read this, but as far as the story is going so far, it's very unlikely that his character, Cameron, might be accepted in the near future. Why? First, I already have a trainer who got transformed into a Cyndaquil. It's not exactly the same as a Typhlosion, but, they're in the same evolutionary line. And since the trainer already has his Cyndaquil near him as of this chapter, that means we have two Cyndaquil in the story, and if I add two more from the same evolutionary line, the story might become a little repetitive. Second, when I read the history, it seems that part of the history is very similar to the background of the aforementioned trainer, and again, I'm not fond of repetition. But I'm not telling which part of the history, since it will spoil the story. But, once I get there, you'll see which part of the history I'm talking about.**

**But there is hope for caman213. I like the second half of the history, where Cameron secretly falls in love with Ember, his Tpyhlosion; especially with the fact that Ember also fell in love with her own trainer. Things is, both of them are doing their best to hide their feelings for almost the same reasons. It would be a little interesting writing that part, when the opportunity comes up. So there's hope for caman213's character to appear in the story.  
**

**Third, read on.  
**

* * *

**Chapter 30**

**Intromission**

_"__People don't want other people to get high, because if you get high, you might see the falsity of the fabric of the society we live in." ~ Ken Kesey_

* * *

"Now's the time to counter-attack!" Rotom ordered loudly, with his voice rising above the quietness of the room.

Before the grunts had time to react, Rotom and his newfound friends attacked. Rotom, the first to attack, made his shine with a purple glow. The enemy Pokemon who saw his glowing eyes were confused.

"One of the Pokemon is using Confuse Ray, or something!" shouted a grunt who noticed that his Pokemon acted strangely and disobediently. "I don't think it's a friendly Pokemon!" he added.

"Is it obvious that it's an enemy if it attacks your Pokemon?" another grunt shouted with irritation. "You're not helping us if you keep on stating the obvious!"

From behind more debris, Rotom quietly ordered, "Wallace, go and release Leech Seeds at the areas with a lot of Pokemon; Dave, shoot out bubbles at them, and I mean bubbles, not BubbleBeam. And don't ask why you may not use BubleBeams just give them bubbles!" Then, Rotom added with a cackle, "I want to make them lose, one by one, inch by inch, degree by degree..."

"Are you sure about this?" Wallace asked.

"I'm so sure about this plan;" Rotom answered impatiently, "now, go!"

So, Wallace and Dave went out of their hiding places and attacked the grunts' and guards' Pokemon, and obeying Rotom's orders, with Wallace attacking groups of their Pokemon with Leech Seed while Dave hitting the other enemy Pokemon with Bubble.

"Why do you want to make them lose one by one, Rotom?" Mary asked from her hiding place, wondering what has gotten to the mind of the Plasma Pokemon. "Are you even all right?"

"Yes, Mary," Rotom replied with a little hesitation as he watched his plan slowly unfold, "I"m all right. And about that idea, let's just say it went to my mind. I just want to see how long they will stubbornly fight us before they give up."

"If that is so, then those crazy Team Galactic fanatics will give up when they run out of ways to attack you," Philipp commented to himself, "and if they're complete zealots, they'll only give up when they die."

"What was that, Philipp?" Rotom asked with suspicion.

"I said that if they were complete fanatics, they'll only give up when they die!" Philipp answered. "To be honest, if what you're facing are crazy zealots, zealous of their goals and objectives, you're going to have a hard time beating them."

"Then," Rotom spoke to Philipp, "make the fighting easier by..."

"By what, Rotom?" Philipp answered back, then told him in frustration, "Are you going to finish your—"

"Going to the fight according to my plans, OK!?" Rotom ordered noisily as he pushed him into the chaotic battleground. "And better use your Water Gun, Philipp! Everyone else is going to follow you shortly!"

And so, Philipp did what he was told, forcefully spraying water from his mouth to the Pokemon of the Team Galactic grunts and guards.

Back in the shelter of debris and broken pieces, Rotom commanded, "Nicolas, I'll tell you when to go in there and attack them with Spark so that some of them might become paralyzed; then, just after Nicolas's attack, you, Clive, burn them with Ember; after that..."

But somehow, in spite of his friendly tone and voice, there seemed to be an aura of suspicion around him that the others did not even notice earlier—an aura the ones behind the debris can not obviously see, but feel. A state of mistrust slowly rose in the air, as his voice seemed to be a bit too cheery and a bit too demanding for a Pokemon who seemed to be trapped inside what appeared to be a boxed life of a privileged prisoner for some time. It all looked like Rotom was hiding something from them, masking it with a strategy that appeared too complex for a battle that looked so simple.

"Wait a minute," Peter interrupted, "this looks a lot like a one-sided fight. Even though we're outnumbered by their numbers, we outnumber them back by our strength and courage."

"Well, yes, Peter," Rotom said, commending Peter's little speech, but added, "but why did you say that from out of the blue?"

"If it's so clear that this battle will have us as the winning team—and you and I know it and everyone else too—" Peter asked curiously, "then why do you have a complicated plan? "

"Yeah, Rotom," Flame said after his trainer, "what he said!"

Rotom started to speak when Anne interrupted, saying "I have to agree with the Cyndaquil duo, Rotom. Besides, I actually don't trust you completely, since you seem to have worked a lot _with _Team Galactic in the past. It's not likely that you would, one day, suddenly change your mind and quickly go against your friends."

Catherine continued, saying with a growing doubt, "Is this a trap, Rotom? Because you seem to be very suspicious now..."

Everyone else who was not fighting and having not spoke a thing while observing the talk looked at Rotom with cautious eyes and an attitude uncertain of Rotom's heart and motives.

"Hey, Rotom!" Dave yelled at him while fighting. "When are you going to bring everyone else? It's taking a long time for them to come here, and you can't just—" Interrupted by an attack from an enemy Pokemon, he continued to fight, hoping Rotom understood what he said.

Pressured by the plan in his head, Rotom quickly spoke above the noise of the battle right in front of him, "Please, you have to understand! I'm not a Pokemon that'll suddenly turn on your back. I'm not that kind of Pokemon! I've been following Team Galactic for a long time, thinking that I was destined to whatever they had for me. But when they transformed almost every—" Then, bright, yellow stars came flying from the fray of the battle right into the wall near Rotom and the others.

"Just go according to the plan!" Rotom commanded as if he was pleading in fear. Despite leading what looked like inevitable victory, there was a certain helplessness glittering on his eyes, yet there were no tears.

William thought to himself, _Is he scared of someone? Is he hiding something? Is he even our friend? Or is he just a pawn in a big plan from Team Galactic? _His questions left his mind restless for sufficient , how he wished he knew the answers right now! Oh, how he wanted this mental burden to be taken away from him!

But he had to obey Rotom's order. Who knows how powerful he was, since Rotom was part of an evil organization that thirsted for power—deadly thirst that seemed unquenchable?

Showing no hesitation, he went over the debris, left safety, and followed Rotom's commands as he fought.

* * *

Eterna City was in sight, yet only a few lights were on in the darkness of the night. An eery feeling fell upon almost the entire moving camp as they walked towards the city that made an impression that it was abandoned, yet they knew it was not.

"That's _not _conventional," stated the complex and complicated Kenneth as he approached the city limits. "But then again, people being turned into Pokemon literally overnight is not normal also."

"Maybe height is one problem for them," Rhye commented, "since the light switches seem so far away from the little ones."

Raising his voice, he said to everyone, "And I want to make this clear: This city _does _have life, in case there are a few out there who are deceived by the spookiness of the city. This city used to be full of lively people, yes, but now, it's full of lively _Pokemon._ That means former humans are still here. And if some of you were wondering why this little city is barely lighted up, maybe many of the Pokemon there aren't tall enough to turn on the light switches."

Rhye heard a few quiet snickers, snorts, and chuckles from the camp. Ryhe counteracted, saying to the those laughing that they "stop laughing right now! Besides, some of you can't even reach the door handle, let alone the light switch. You should be embarrassed of yourselves!

"Now, we're almost there at Eterna City, but that does not mean you slack up! First, we find where the leaders and their friends are, then they'll tell you what to do. Do you understand and will you do it?"

Despite the dirty laughs a while ago, many answered with a loud, unanimous "Yes!"

"Then I hope you are sincere with your words, then." Rhye told them with a seriousness in his tone.

* * *

Frank's hands turned red and two red beams came out of them, heading straight towards the Glameow—the Glameow that happened to be the last enemy in the battle about to end.

Absorbing the Glameow's energy, Frank felt refreshed and re-energized, but leaving Glameow deprived from energy. As a finishing move, he pounded the Glameow, defeating the final Team Galactic Pokemon on the ground floor.

When the dust cleared, fainted Pokemon littered the floor. Some grunts were panicking, running outside the headquarters in fear. The only sounds the remaining Pokemon could hear were the fading sounds of footsteps outside.

"I think that's the last of them!" Clive shouted.

"Now, it's about time we go upstairs!" Rotom yelled. "Don't worry; but there will be some scientists up there who will be brave enough and willing to fight us, so don't let your guard down!"

Although some doubted in their minds if Rotom was really a friend, all followed him upstairs anyway.

On the second floor, many of the scientists cowered in fear of them. Some of the intelligent minds even pleaded for themselves to be spared. But, as Rotom said, there were a few smart people who had the stubborn intent to get rid of their enemies, even in spite of the fact that the mere, fifteen Pokemon took down an entire company of Team Galactic's low-ranking soldiers and grunts. If even they knew that a group of grunts that outnumbered the fifteen by four or even five times were defeated, they would still fight, maybe even to their end.

"Come out of your Poke Ball, Kadabra!" One daring scientist shouted with courage, as he let out his Kadabra from his Poke Ball.

The Kadabra was barely out of the Poke Ball when his trainer ordered, "Go and fire a Psybeam at the infidels!"

His own Pokemon wondered about the order, saying to his own trainer, "Are you sure about this? Look at how many opponents we're facing!"

Of course, the scientist did not understand, only hearing syllables. With almost no comprehension of what his Pokemon said, he just scolded, "Don't question me! I'm your master, remember!? I know what I'm doing, so go! Use your Psybeam at them!"

It seemed obstinate and illogical for the Kadabra to attack a group of fifteen Pokemon with something that would only hit two or three of them. Even if he did get some of them confused, it was not possible for him to confuse even half of the group, let alone every single one in it. Yet, if he did not obey his trainer, he would most likely get a severe punishment.

"Come on, Kadabra," Wallace quietly told him, "you know the right thing to do, anyway. If you don't do anything soon, we'll just start the battle."

The Kadabra thought about it.

Out of the blue, the Kadabra hit his own trainer with a Psybeam. His own trainer became confused, wobbling as he tried to walk, and clumsily fell down the stairs with a crash.

The Pokemon right in front of him were surprised, but Wallace anticipated Kadabra's seemingly unexpected move.

"I don't know what you want, but if it's information, I'll tell you!" The Kadabra begged, pleading for his life to be spared. "I could take one of you head on, but you're all going to attack together! I _could _teleport to escape from you, but I have run out of energy to do it. Had I been an Alakazam, I would've chosen to approach you with confidence, but, I'm still a Kadabra! Even worse, I just evolved from an Abra two days ago, so the only techniques I know other than how to teleport are Psybeam, Psyshock and Confuse Ray. But my trainer has a technical machine―TM for short―that teaches me how to make others sleep, but surely, you'll attack me before I reach the technical machine! I'll tell you almost anything about Team Galactic! If any one of you are former humans, then I can tell you at least _some _information about what happened four nights ago!"

The other Pokemon were surprised at the Kadabra's last sentence.

"I think this Kadabra is overreacting," Mark joked quietly, softly hitting Dave's flippers while snickering in low tones, "right guys?"

"Was this part of your plan, Rotom?" Leafy asked cheerily, overly-amazed at the recent and current events and curious to know if Rotom had anticipated it earlier.

"Erm..." stuttered Rotom, putting on an innocent smile, trying to find a good answer for the young Chikorita.

But he was interrupted by the lone Kadabra. "So that's what you want? You want to know some things about the transformation day?"

Wallace spoke up. "We _were _focusing on getting out of here and that only, but since we're also looking for answers, then you can speak and let us hear your side of the story."

"In fact," Anne began, "only three of us are natural-born Pokemon. The rest of us are former humans, so it's good to know what happened when we were transformed."

"Really?" The Kadabra exclaimed in surprise. "Almost every one of you used to be a human? I can't believe I have so many of you at the same time! I would like to tell you what happened back then.

"But, are you _sure_, that I can trust you that you won't ambush me while I'm speaking? If I detect an attack even before it will hit me, I will not tell you anything anymore."

"That means Mark _should _be really behaved so we can listen to all what the Kadabra has to say," said Wallace, eyeing Mark, "shouldn't he?"

"You're starting to scare me, Wallace!" Mark yelled in fear.

"OK, just keep quiet and I'll tell you all what I know about that fateful day. Better listen up, because I only have time to say it once, so no questions that request me to repeat something for anyone of you.

"But before that, I'll have to make sure no one can attack us. I will take the technical machine I told you about earlier, make every human and every Pokemon upstairs asleep, and when the coast is clear, I will guide you to the important facts. Because the things you want to know about are on the third and fourth floors."

"But why make everyone asleep?" Rotom asked. "Can you just knockout everyone in there? And are you sure you can teach yourself a move with a technical machine? I think you need your trainer "

"Haven't I told you already? My techniques are not powerful enough to take down multiple Pokemon. And, about teaching myself a technique―I have never tried it yet, but it is worth a shot.

"So, I'll see you soon!" The Kadabra said as he bade farewell, going upstairs.

"Don't take a long time, though!" Mark shouted at him.

"I don't think he's going to take a long time, Mark," Rotom stated, making Mark calm; "It's not like he's about to get snatched away or anything like that." Yet, Rotom knew otherwise.


	32. The Hands We Have

**Chapter 31**

**The Hands We Have**

_"God has given us two hands, one to receive with and the other to give with." ~ Billy Graham_

* * *

Seconds passed. The Kadabra did not come back. Of course, it would take more than a dozen of seconds for him to make sure that he and they would be safe. In spite of Mark's blatant impatience, they decided to wait a little longer. They thought to themselves, "Maybe a minute or two or even three and he will come back." So, they waited.

Then, they heard sounds upstairs. Footsteps and quiet thuds. It meant that the Kadabra was making progress. And Mark hoped that he would finish it soon. Very soon. For Mark could not stand waiting.

A minute passed. The Kadabra did not come back. Maybe there were more Team Galactic guards and scientists up there than they expected. Then again, the building they were in was not small and simple. It was a headquarters—large and complex. So, they chose to wait a little longer. "A minute or two to go," they thought to themselves. So, they waited.

Another minute passed. Maybe the Kadabra was having a hard time learning how to learn a techinque from a technical machine. So much for a Psychic-type Pokemon if that was true. Or maybe he was trying to lure any remaining Team Galactic "cowards" from their hiding places. So, they decided to wait a little longer once again. Yet, doubts and worries began to grow in their minds. What if what Rotom had said earlier was not true? What if the Kadabra was really in danger? What if he is already trapped himself? Consoling themselves with the thought that it was not as short as they thought, they waited.

Five minutes passed. Doubt had overcome them already. The worries were catching up with them. What if they waited five or even ten more minutes and he does not come back? Seven minutes have passed already.

"Wallace," Anne spoke up, "I think we should go check upstairs. The Kadabra is not back yet, and I did not hear anything from upstairs after the first minute."

"Yeah, Wallace," Dave said to his brother before he even opened his mouth. "We haven't heard a single sound after those first few thuds. I'm worried. And I'm not the only worrying. Everyone here is worrying about the guy."

"I'm scared..." Leafy uttered in fear as she hid behind her own trainer.

"Me too..." Flame said quietly in fear as he also hid behind Peter.

Wallace thought about it for a while. "You're right. Everyone, let's go up!"

"Finally, the waiting has stopped!" Mark shouted as he went up with the rest, not having to wait for the Kadabra to come down anymore.

* * *

"I'll check the area before we advance!" Mackie shouted as he flapped his wings and flew. "Just stay there, OK? I'll let you know if the coast is clear!" Then, flying higher until his head almost touched the ceiling, he slowly but surely checked everywhere and everyplace that the Kadabra might be hiding in or trapped in.

"Oh, come on!" complained Mark. "More waiting?"

"Please be patient, Mark," Wallace replied. "Mackie is going to take more than seconds in finding the Kadabra, so stop whining already.

"Besides, you don't want to set up a bad example for the kids, right?" Wallace said, looking directly—with a smile—at Mary, Tody, and Flame.

Mark looked frustrated. "Oh, OK!" he relented. "I'll wait this out _only _for just a few more minutes.

"But Mackie," he shouted sternly, addressing the flying Chatot, "don't take a ridicuously long time! I don't want to be late to fight whoever's up there on the top floor. And we _sure _don't want to be too—"

"Don't get impatient, you hot-tempered Chimchar!" Mackie shouted back at him, stirring up a few chuckles and laughters here and there. "Then again, maybe you really don't want some water to cool your temper..."

The laughs that were there became a little louder. And William did not just laugh. It was the loudest out of the few. Maybe even the Kadabra can hear it—if he was even in this building, that is. William's laugh was like a cachinnation. Loud and blaring.

Mark did not take the joke lightly. "You really think I'm someone to make fun of, huh?" he yelled in anger, frightening some of the young Pokemon. Others stayed away; they knew of—or at least heard of—Mark's hot-white fury. And most of the time, the aftermath did not look good.

Dave noticed Mark anger. "Please stop, bro!" he shouted at him, trying to stop Mark from doing anything harmful to anyone, even himself. "You're going to regret it if you vent your anger out this way!"

As soon as Dave saw that his brother was about to unleash his anger, Dave quickly shot out numerous bubbles from his beak. The bubbles were headed straight at Mark. They hit him, making him fall on his back with a great force. The pain got even worse, since the bubbles were made out of water—something that Mark began to get scared of ever since he was transformed into a Chimchar.

"Stop this!" Wallace spoke up as he went into the middle of the fray, stopping any more acts of retaliation.

Then, he turned to Dave. " I understand you're trying to stop Mark, but if you're going to attack him any further, he's going to get _really _hurt!"

"But, what if he really deserved it?" Dave shot back at his own brother. "Or...or what if more pain is needed before he stops?"

"As your older brother," Wallace sternly told him with a serious look on his face, "I tell you to stop."

Dave knew that Wallace was not joking. So he stopped reasoning with him, and began listening to his older brother.

"Look at yourself, then look at Mark..." Wallace began.

"I think we should all be quiet now," Catherine whispered to almost everyone near her. Then, she realized something.

"Have you seen Mackie?" She whispered, so concerned about Mackie.

But everyone else seemed focused on the brotherly scene right in front of them, choosing to forget—at least for a while—the task ahead of them, the Team Galactic, and the Kadabra.

* * *

Ignoring all the commotion and maybe even drama downstairs was the unnoticed Mackie. In fact, he could not here anything from downstairs anymore, now that he has gone far from his friends. Gliding stealthily through the shadows of the eerily unlit room—save for one lone fluorescent lamp at the end of the room,—he heard steps. Footsteps. And they were too loud to be the footsteps of a Kadabra.

_Maybe it's the footsteps of the last Galactic dummy standing! _Mackie thought. _But, since this one's on the top floor, maybe this one's like a commander or some high-ranking person._

Mackie went a little farther from his hiding place to clearly see who the person was. It was a woman with slightly dark rose pink hair in Team Galactic uniform. She looked at something as she paced around it. And Mackie could clearly see what it was.

It was some special sort of cage. It seemed to block anything trying to move it, even psychic powers. And the Kadabra was in it, trying to get himself out of there with almost all of his powers, but to no avail.

_Good thing I'm in the dark, _Mackie thought to himself, _so both of them won't see. Even if the Kadabra did, he would take notice and that woman would also notice the look on his face and she would think there's a Pokemon trying to ambush her. And I'm not going to get inside a cage like that._

"Not today!" Mackie shouted loudly.

The pacing woman suddenly stopped pacing, with one hand clutching one of her Poke Balls. "Who's there?" she asked to practically no one in particular. "Are you one of those Pokemon who ransacked this place?"

All the while, Mackie panickedly got away from her. But he knew that she would follow the sound of his flapping and notice the commotion downstairs—it seemed inevitable. He had to warn them about what was to come.

* * *

Time passed, and Catherine chose to forget asking about where was Mackie. She realized that the matter before her eyes were important and personal to the three brothers. She consoled herself with the thought that maybe Mackie is just having a long time finding the Kadabra. She thought that there was no enemy upstairs.

"So everyone's OK?" Wallace said to everyone.

Mark and Dave nodded. And everyone else either said that they were OK or just nodded.

"Let me guess," Philipp said with arms crossed, "peace is apparently restored. And Mackie is still not here."

Most of them became surprised at the thought of it. Especially Catherine.

Catherine, going back to being concerned about Mackie, said to Wallace, "Are you sure Mackie is going to be OK? This building is not really that big...at least to us if we haven't been changed into little Pokemon!"

"Come to think of it," Nicolas chimed in, "Mackie _has _been gone for some time already. I bet he's in danger, or even worse."

"Locked in a cage?" Leafy said with fear.

"Sadly, I think so," Nicolas answered. "Still, there's even worse things that can happen to him and I don't even want to think about it."

"Can we just save Mackie already!?" Mark yelled at them in impatience. "It's obvious that he's in captive! He's not returning for who knows how many minutes!"

Just after those words were out of his mouth, some figure came swooping down fast from upstairs to the fourth floor. Everyone saw it and they ran, duck, jumped—did everything they could to avoid the speedy figure. But the figure crashed into Anne.

Catherine ran up to Mackie, who lay on Anne. "Mackie!" She said to him with so much worry of him. "Are you all right?"

"Yeah, I'm OK, I guess," Mackie said as he got up. "Maybe I'm not even hurt at all. But what about Anne?"

Almost everyone looked at Anne. After Anne got up, all she could say was:

"Mackie! Why do you keep crashing into me!?"

"I-I'm sorry, Anne!" Mackie quickly apologized. "But I was in a hurry because...because..."

"Because of what!?" Anne angrily yelled at the Chatot. "Because you wanna crash into me again!? This isn't the first time it happened, and you know that too!"

Clive went between the angry Anne and the panicky Mackie. "Anne! You better stop this! Can you at least give Mackie a chance to tell us what he found upstairs? Maybe the Kadabra is over there, and he either found some important information or got caught!"

Anne looked at both Clive and Mackie with Clive's words in mind. She looked down. "I guess you're right. Looks like I need more anger management than I thought."

Some small laughs and snickers were heard. Even Anne smiled at her own choice of words.

"Look guys and gals!" Mackie sounded out. "I know you just laughed at something funny, but what I'm going to tell you is serious, so you better keep quiet and pay close attention! And I say that especially to you, Mark!"

Mark made a dirty look at Mackie. But Mackie just ignored the insult.

"When I went upstairs, it was dark, but I only saw one light. I went closer to that light, and this is what I saw: There was this woman in Galactic uniform—I think she's the commander of this building or something like that—and she was guarding something. And that something will surprise you...then again, I guess not if you're expecting it."

"It's the Kadabra in custody, isn't it?" Philipp asked, as if rhetorically.

"How did you know?" Mackie asked back. "Oh...it's really obvious by now."

"Then let's save the Kadabra and kick whoever is holding him captive right out of the building and beyond!" William shouted as a battle cry.

"Now hold on, William," Frank said, stopping William from running to the stairs. "Let's make a battle plan first before we go right into the battle."

"Actually, let's just plan it out while we battle," Mary suggested. "Besides, it's around fifteen of us against at most, four. How hard can it be to win?"

"There's always the possibility that there will be traps and the like," Dave answered.

"And, since she's the last one in the building," Wallace continued, "she could also be the one with the most powerful Pokemon in the building. Or maybe she even has six Pokemon full of very strong and agile Pokemon at the end of their evolutionary line. And all of us haven't even evolved yet."

"So the odds are against us," Philipp commented.

"But that doesn't mean we don't have a single chance to win!" Peter said with pride and conviction.

"He's right," Wallace announced. "Just because she might have six strong, fully-evolved Pokemon on her side doesn't mean that we _will _lose. We only _may _lose. It's never a guarantee, but let's fight as if we're supposed to win."

"Does that mean can we move on to the next floor already?" Mark asked with restlessness.

"Yes, Mark," Wallace replied, to Mark's delight, "we can finally move on."

"Oh yeah!" Mark shouted in excitement, as he ran headfirst to the stairs. "Come on, people! Let's do it!"

And everyone else followed Mark, trying to keep up with his speed. They anticipated what was going to happen in the next few moments. And it seemed to be victory for them.

* * *

"What's that?" the woman said as she quickly turned to face the stairs.

The sound of many footsteps became louder and louder. It sounded a lot like a stampede of Pokemon.

The Kadabra perked up his ears at the sound of it, in spite of being trapped in a special cage. _It's them! _he thought in excitement. _They're going to rescue me for sure! _

The woman stood near the cage, making sure that the Kadabra won't be taken away.

As she sood near it, she looked at another cage that looked just like the one that contained the Kadabra. But in this cage, it held a Glaceon.

"I hope they leave _you _behind," she said to the Glaceon, as if she was expecting the scared Glaceon to understand her.


	33. The Disruption

**Author's Notes: **Sorry for the long gap between chapters. Reasons will remain disclosed, though.

Now, to respond to antonm1107, the story will reveal itself through time. To everyone else, I hope you do cite more flaws and mistakes in my story. There are times when I'm tired of the compliments.

With the notes done, let's read on:

* * *

**Chapter 32**

**The Disruption**

_"Well, I think we tried very hard not to be overconfident, because when you get overconfident, that's when something snaps up and bites you." ~ Neil Armstrong_

* * *

The Glaceon could have shouted—practically pleading for mercy—at her, but it would have been useless and it would have served no purpose. Besides, the commander would not understand her—the Glaceon was a Pokemon, anyway. In fact, the Glaceon could have tried to get out of the cage with some kind of attack, but it would also prove useless. The cage was sturdy enough to withstand all but the powerful attacks of legendary Pokemon—and the Glaceon was not one. So, she just stared back at the commander until the stare was broken.

But to the commander, the look on the Glaceon's eyes were nothing. She just looked away after a brief moment and turned to the group of Pokemon right in front of her.

"So," the commander said rather calmly to the crew of Pokemon, "you're the troublemakers that single-handedly ransacked this building?"

"Yeah, you're right!" Mark exclaimed at her with blazing anger—expecting her to at least shiver in fear.

"Humph!" the commander uttered loudly. "Too bad I can't understand the language of Pokemon.

"Just to let you know, I'm Commander Jupiter. But I don't think you'll stick around to think about that any longer, because I'm going to salvage what's left of this headquarters, and I'm going to begin by defeating you! You may have defeated everyone else here, but I'm the boss here. And I say, if you want that good-for-nothing Kadabra and the others here to be freed, you have to get past me first!"

As she finished her statement, she grabbed one of her Poke Balls. She threw it and she shouted "Go, Golbat!"

And out of the Poke Ball was indeed a Golbat.

They had no time to contemplate how powerful the Golbat was, for Jupiter quickly commanded her Golbat, "Confuse them with confuse ray—confuse them for a few minutes! And do it fast before they get too far away!"

The Golbat showed no hesitation in obeying her as he flapped his wings and started to glow. Then, his glow became so bright—and perhaps even beautiful—that it seemed like any Pokemon who looked at the glow will certainly become confused and disoriented.

"Everyone!" Wallace shouted, trying to get the attention of everyone on his side. "Don't look at the glow! Get far away from it—Yes! I'm telling you to run away from it until you can run no more or until you can't feel the light! Maybe some of you want to take a little peek, but...let's just say this is like the false light—a deceiving light that's going to make you stumble!"

With such a sobering warning from one of the leaders himself, it seemed everyone did their best to not look at the attractive light. Many went downstairs immediately, yet they can feel the light even from a floor apart. Some decided to stay with Wallace on the top floor, in case the Golbat's Confuse Ray was over and in case they saw the chance to attack immediately. Even Jupiter turned her face away from the shining glow, lest she might get confused too—even though she was clearly not a Pokemon.

But Anne, one of those who stayed upstairs, had some ideas. "Hey, Wallace!" Anne yelled at him as the glow continued to radiate brightly and as she blindly ran up to Wallace.

"What do you want, Anne?" Wallace asked, being a little bit frustrated by sacrificing some time to talk to her in trade for a greater risk of being confused by the glow.

"Why don't we just blindly attack the Golbat while he's shining?" suggested Anne.

Wallace was surprised at the sound of it, but silently let her continue. "Besides, I bet that his eyes are also closed so he won't confuse himself. We can bet our chances on this Golbat, attack blindly right towards the center of the light and in the end, we cut short that annoying glow and maybe even damage him severely.

"Come on Wallace!" Anne pleaded. "Please?"

But moments after having said that, Anne—and everyone else—noticed that the light began to grow dim. And it dimmed very quickly, leaving no more opportunity for Anne's plan to even begin.

"Looks like you were pleading even before you became a Meditite, Anne," Wallace commented as the glow died out.

"So much for your sophisticated plan, eh?" Clive—who was also one of those who stayed upstairs—remarked. "At least it's about our turn to attack."

As he said those words, the Golbat lost all his light, then he landed on the ground.

Then, out of the blue, Frank—another one who stayed behind—began to ran on all fours. He ran so fast that a short-lived white trail appeared behind him wherever he ran. It became clear that he was running to the Golbat to tackle him.

But the moment Frank was about to tackle him, the Golbat flew to the air again—as if effortlessly—leaving Frank crashing into Kadabra's cage.

"Can you hear me?" The Kadabra asked from his cage.

"Yeah, Kadabra," Frank answered, "I'm fine, I'm alright. You don't need to worry about me." Then, he looked at the Golbat, looking ready to strike back at him. But the Golbat was looking at Anne as if she was his prey.

"That is not good," Frank said, concerned of her safety. "Kadabra, can you use that move you learned from the technical machine you mentioned earlier?"

Then, both of them heard screams from Anne. They turned their heads, and they saw Anne running from the Golbat catching up from behind her. They saw Dave and Mark, chasing the Golbat. They also saw Wallace as he swung his head and razor-sharp leaves came hurtling at the Golbat.

_What's he doing? _Frank wondered as he saw the leaves hit the Golbat with not much effort. _He knows that Grass-type moves don't work well with most Pokemon that can fly._

"Umm—" the Kadabra stammered, interrupting Frank's thoughts, "to be honest with you, I wasn't able to find that technical machine because Jupiter got me before I was able to search any further. And I can't use any other of my attacking techniques. This cage is made in a way so that not even my psychic powers can make even a small dent on it, let alone break it."

"Is there any other way to open that cage?" Frank asked while he faced the rising action right in front of him.

"Well, I remember from my short time here that the cages are digitally locked. There's a computer somewhere on this floor that can lock or unlock all cages like this. If you manage to do it, you'll not just free me—you'll free every other Pokemon who's locked in a cage like this one. But there's one problem—passwords. You have to type the correct password in order to turn on the computer, then there's the log in password, then there's yet another password you have to get pass through in order to even open a single file. And those passwords are certainly not written down. I think Jupiter is the only one who knows all the passwords."

Both of them were silent for a while as Frank thought about how to do it, with the others fighting the Golbat, and Anne already on the offense and beginning to attack the Golbat too.

"Hey, Frank!" Wallace shouted at him between pants as he was running, trying to catch up to the flying Golbat. "We need some help over here!"

Frank noticed and looked at them almost instantly. "It's worth a shot, Kadabra," said Frank, turning to face him for only a brief moment. Then, Frank ran to join the battle.

"I hope you _do _free us," Kadabra quietly said to them, even though he knew they would not hear him.

* * *

"This is not good, guys—not good!" Peter exclaimed in fear and worry. "I already told them not to look at the light no matter what, but then they look at it!"

Downstairs, a floor beneath the action above them, was also not a place of peace for them at this time. Because in front of the three transformed trainers were their own Pokemon, confused and bumbling about as if they had crossed the line into mild insanity for Pokemon.

"Looks like natural Pokemon just like blinding lights a lot," Philipp subtly joked.

"Yeah, but what it might take some time for them to be cured," Mary said with an accent of concern in her voice. "Besides, this is obviously not the first time all three of them got confused at the same time. But they're experienced Pokemon—shouldn't they at least stop thinking of opening their eyes all because the light is so beautiful?"

Then, Leafy tripped into her own trainer, and Mary also fell with her own Pokemon.

"Maybe it's because they haven't evolved yet," Nicolas suggested. "Perhaps age doesn't always match their maturity levels when it comes to Pokemon."

"At least Mackie immediately got out to get some Persim Berries to cure their confusion;" Catherine spoke up, "At least that's what he said he would do."

Then, Flame suddenly shot out bursts of bolts of fire at a sloppily-placed stack of official-looking papers. The papers then burst into flames, and the small fire already threatened to burn the entire building down—and everyone inside along with it.

Some shouted and screamed in panic at the sight of the little but steadily growing fire. But Philipp took action, and ran close to the fire while pushing anyone in his way, lest the fire might have a sudden growth spurt and spread to even more places.

"Let me handle this!" Philipp exclaimed at everyone. Without turning his head back, he yelled, especially to Mary, "If you're weak against fire, go upstairs now and help Wallace and the others!"

But no one knew what was going in his head when he said those words. _Mary, I would rather see you faint in battle against that evil Golbat than to see you faint or maybe even die by these flames._

He thought about calling Philipp, but he was confused. And there was no time to check if he's still confused.

Facing the growing flames, he was about to fire a spiral of water at the blaze when, out of the blue, he heard water coming at him. He looked back, and he saw a spiral of water coming straight at him. He quickly ran to the side.

Before he could shout, "Who did that!?" in anger and irritation, he—and everyone else on the same floor—saw that the fiery blaze was instantly extinguished by the unexpected stream of water.

It meant no life-threatening fire about to take their lives for now.

"Now, who did that!?" Philipp exclaimed in relief and out of giving honor to the one who removed the fire.

"I did!" Tody replied happily, surprising Philipp.

When Philipp and everyone else looked to see Tody and the other two—Flame and Leafy—they did not see them stumble about clumsily in disarray. Instead, they were chewing and munching on berries that looked like fat, pink chili or fat, pink carrots. The three Pokemon looked normal, they _were _normal; no confusion in them—much to their Philipp's disappoint, surprisingly, and to everyone else's surprisal.

"Why did you surprise us like that, Tody?" Philipp asked his own Pokemon.

"But these berries that Mackie retrieved for us snapped all three of us out of confusion!" Tody answered back in a reasoning tone.

"Yeah, that's right!" Mackie yelled, as he flew into the plain view of everyone. "Don't you remember Philipp? These berries are the natural cure to situations like these!

"You know what? It's only been like—what? Four days since we've been transformed into Pokemon! We have—let's see—8 different groups or persons from different lives, myself included. Maybe it does make sense that we argue sometimes—we only knew each other for four days and now, for four nights too. But we shouldn't be arguing like this! I don't know if it's the one that made us change into Pokemon or the Pokemon senses that made us fight, but it's more likely that it's us that's the problem.

"And Philipp!" Mackie said loudly as he turned to Philipp. "I wanted it to be a surprise. It's my nature, even before I turned into a Chatot literally overnight. But aren't you at least a little glad that your Pokemon is out of confusion. Because, believe me, nasty things will happen if they get confused for a long time."

Silence was there for a while. Philipp thought about Mackie's words for a while. It was the second time today that he got a lecture about the relationship between him and his own Pokemon. Now, with Philipp as a Totodile, the trainer and the Pokemon were practically at equal level. But why does he still keep bossing his own Pokemon, even though he looked just like his own Pokemon on the outside?

"Yeah, actually," Philipp began, "I'm sorry...I apologize. I really hope this doesn't happen again." Then, he turned to Tody. "I apologize to you, too. Will you forgive me?"

"Of course, Philipp!" Tody exclaimed in forgiveness. "I'll always do, but I expect better from you! You said it yourself anyway!"

That's when Philipp's own words hit him at his heart. But he kept it away for a while when he noticed that the confusing light was completely gone.

"Come on, people!" Philipp announced to everyone as he headed for the stairs. "Let's go help them!"

And they ran. And Philipp ran with Tody right beside him.

* * *

"Is the last one already off the bridge?" Rhye asked the observing Kenneth as both of them observed the impatient yet waiting crowd.

"Yes, sir," Kenneth informed him. "And, oh, just to add: There are some Pokemon over there that I mistook for the leaders. They were the same Pokemon as they were so maybe it was predictable that I would think that they were the leaders at first. They told me they were not the leaders, but they did tell me something very interesting. It might surprise you, Rhye."

"What is it? What did they say?" Rhye asked. "We don't have all night. We're already in Eterna City limits, but we still need to find the leaders and co-leaders."

"They told me they were the leaders' Pokemon."


	34. Ensemble

**Author's Note:**

I would like to forgive those who are waiting for another (now overdue) chapter. I hope you understand. And if you can review, I suggest you review correctly. I can take any criticism as long as they are well-intended. And original characters (OCs) are still being accepted, although it's not a 100% chance that your character will be accepted into the story.

Read on after the line.

* * *

**Chapter 33**

**Ensemble**

_"We are apt to forget that children watch examples better than they listen to preaching." -Roy L. Smith_

* * *

Rhye's face was, surprisingly, one of calm disagreement. "You _must _be kidding me. Their Pokemon were inside their Poke balls when the transformation happened, and even if they did get out, they would almost immediately try to search for their trainers. Plus the fact "

"But maybe, just maybe," Kenneth replied, "they're telling the truth. To be honest, I've only seen one other Turtwig in the entire camp besides the one who claimed to be one of the leaders' Pokemon. And to sign up to camp, no other Piplup or Chimchar has done so. They got to be—"

"No one can just show up and claim to be a child of some famous person!" Rhye interrupted rudely. "It applies in this situation. You can't just expect those three Pokemon to be the leaders' Pokemon. In fact, we need to see some evidence before I even get a little convinced that they are what they claim to be. Plus, stop with the backward sentences already. It's making my head hurt just trying to make sense of what you're saying."

"Well, if the case is what you say," Kenneth began, "then I'll give you proof."

"What kind of proof?" Rhye asked. "And, don't we have more important matters than dealing with three Pokemon that could be frauds to attend to? We still have to inform the leaders and co-leaders that the entire camp is within Eterna City limits already."

"The three Pokemon will just need to be shown to the leaders, then. And nice is a nice reunion between trainer and Pokemon."

Rhye then sighed at this. "If you say so..."

* * *

The Glaceon looked at the action in front of her. The nearest Pokemon was the caged Kadabra who, like her, was watching Jupiter giving orders to her Golbat whilst her enemies, maybe the ones who were going to save the Kadabra—and maybe even the Glaceon, if they did notice her, that is—did not need orders. They seem to know what to do. The Glaceon just hoped they would win; but what she hoped more is that they would notice her after the unsure victory.

She was thankful that Team Galactic did not make their cages soundproof. That might be a little boring, and even a little daunting—to see, yet to not hear. So Glaceon enjoyed the sound of the battle, yet sounds were not a concern to her now.

As the Treecko, the Turtwig, the Meditite, the Chimchar, and the Piplup began to overwhelm Jupiter's Golbat—dismaying Jupiter as they did so—more Pokemon came from the stairs and almost immediately entered the fray. There was a Chatot, two Cyndaquil, two Chikorita, two Totodile, a Shinx, a Buneary—the Glaceon was surprised at the number of those who came to help.

Victory seemed inevitable. The odds were fifteen Pokemon to one Golbat. _Even though Jupiter is a commander, _the Glaceon thought in her mind, _she could not possibly be any match to fifteen Pokemon. I bet some of them are former humans as well! They can't lose!_

* * *

"You can't possibly stop us now!" Philipp shouted bravely. Some shouted and roared with him. Mark made a loud "Yeah!" The three natural Pokemon just charged to the front of the group, waiting for the call to attack. Nicolas was charging himself up with electricity. Mackie was in the air, almost at level with the Golbat, eyeing him with a keen eye on his movements.

Jupiter was clearly surprised. "I really did not expect that coming. But numbers don't always spell out victory."

Before the other Pokemon even reacted to what she said, she immediately shouted the order. "Golbat, slash these imbeciles with the air!"

The Golbat then quickly slashed his wings and blades of wind came forth from them.

"Watch out!" Wallace shouted responsively before he ran to a safe hiding place, safe from the sharp blades of wind. But he was hurt by one of the blades, as it was for many of the others who tried to dodge, avoid, or even seek refuge from the blades of wind.

"And that's not all!" Jupiter proclaimed.

With great swiftness—before many of the Pokemon in front of her could fully recover—the commander revealed another Poke Ball in her disposal. Then, she released the Pokemon inside her second Poke Ball.

"A Skuntank!?" Mark shouted in surprise and slight desperation. "A single Golbat was able to make the most of us retreat for a while!"

Jupiter commanded her Pokemon, "Go, Skuntank, and fill the entire room with smoke; Golbat, confuse them with your super sonic rays when the smoke has filled the entire room!"

"OK, that's one deadly combination," Nicolas commented loudly. "How are we even going to—"

The smoke began to rise from Skuntank's mouth.

"You may outnumber me," the teasing commander mocked, "but you can never out_smart_ me! You'll never have to prepare for this!"

As Jupiter and her two Pokemon became hidden in smoke and as the smoke slowly covered the room, the rest of the Pokemon quickly searched for ways to defeat Jupiter's seemingly near unbeatable strategy.

"Hey, this building's got to have some smoke detectors!" Clive suggested.

"They were broken when Rotom broke the back-up generators, remember?" Frank answered back.

"Wait, speaking of Rotom," Catherine began, "where's Rotom?"

* * *

As the Skuntank continued to spew smoke, filling the room—which also meant most of the fourth floor—with smoke, the Glaceon could not see very far into the room. The only thing significant she saw was the Kadabra trapped in his cage. To her surprise, he did not seem scared. Instead, he seemed calm.

Then again, it could be the predisposition that Pokemon like the Kadabra are usually calm and serene, even in battle and times of emergency. They seemed to know it all and rested on the fact that they have sufficient information on practically everything.

As much as they seem to know, the Glaceon began to wonder if they were really good in predicting the future. If the Kadabra spoke to her through telepathy and told her that she should not be afraid because she will be set free tonight, she theorized that he might not be as right as he seems to be.

_Were they just making smart guesses based on what knowledge they had about the present situation? _Glaceon thought.

All along, she was scared that she might _not _be set free tonight. Or perhaps, she might not be set free for the rest of her life.

If she tried to get out, the lid would not budge. It was powered by electricity, and it seemed that the electricity has gone out. The special cages were made in such a way that if a blackout happened, any open cages will close and lock immediately and any closed cages will be made locked.

She could try a Pokemon attack, but the only attack she knew was hitting the lid with full body force. She did not have the time to learn any other Pokemon move. All she did was try to find answers by traveling through the entire Sinnoh region, asking questions. If any wild Pokemon attacked her, she was thankful that she was agile enough to avoid many impromptu battles. If she did have to attack, all she did was to tackle them.

In short, she only knew how to tackle. And that did not seem effective against a specially-made lid that was locked tight.

If only the power would come back on. At least one of the good guys (or gals) would have the chance to open the cages if they knew how to use the master computer.

The smoke then covered most of everything that was outside her cage. She could not see even the Kadabra. It looked hopeless to her.

* * *

The smoke filled the room. The first half of Jupiter's deadly combo was done.

"I can only see like two feet in front of me with all this smoke in front of me!" Mark complained.

"Where are you, guys?" Catherine shouted fearfully. "I really don't want to be lost!"

"Mary, are you there?" Leafy asked repeatedly, as she went to and fro to find her trainer.

Names were being yelled, help was being called for, but it seemed nothing good was coming from this.

* * *

"I can't fly with such low visibility!" Mackie moaned as he tried to navigate his way through the smoke.

Crash!

"Ouch!" a voice sounded loudly.

"Owwiee!" Mackie groaned in pain. "Sorry if you got hurt!"

"It's OK, Mackie," the voice sounded again.

"Nicolas? Phew! I thought you were Anne, because it seemed likely that I might crash into her again! Oh, by the way, do you have any idea how we'll know where we're going? Because we might get hit by some kind of confusion ray again if we don't hurry up!"

"We're Pokemon, Mackie!" Nicolas answered. "We can use our Pokemon instincts to help us get through the smoke...if we can use them properly, that is."

"Can you smell our way to Jupiter's Skuntank, then?"

"Uh...I think—"

Then, a zap.

* * *

"Huh?" Jupiter exclaimed out of surprise when she heard the zap, turned around, and found that her Skuntank was no longer producing smoke. "How did you useless former humans see through the smoke?"

Then, sparks of electricity started to sparkle in the smoke, startling the commander.

"You're trying to scare me!" Jupiter said angrily at the sparks of lightning. "You can never make me run away with fear! Show yourself!"

The sparks of lightning grew brighter and seem to come closer to the commander, until the smoke began to clear, and Rotom appeared from the smoke.

"Rotom!?" Jupiter shouted in surprise. "If you're working for them...Skuntank, poison the traitor!"

Immediately, the Skuntank spewed out harmful, dark green gas at the Rotom. Rotom dodged the first toxic cloud but the second one made sure contact with him.

"Golbat," Jupiter hastily commanded, "confuse every other Pokemon you can and finish them off with a wing attack! I and Skuntank will take care of Rotom!"

The Golbat obeyed her orders and went out of the scene fast.

"Wait a minute...Rotom!?" a familiar voice sounded.

"Wallace?" Rotom asked. He turned to Wallace who was surprised at the sight of him being poisoned.

_Does this mean that Rotom was serious about fighting against Team Galactic? _Wallace quickly thought to himself as he saw the Rotom slowly being poisoned. _ Does this mean that Rotom is really not some kind of pawn in Galactic's evil plans? _

_"_Don't just stand there!" Rotom yelled as he charged himself up with electricity. "Help me!"

Juptier noticed the nearby Turtwig. "Skuntank, slash the traitor and his real ally!"

And then, a pinched scream.

"Watch out!" It was Mackie's voice.

Almost everyone at the scene looked at where the scream came from. Then, they saw the Chatot flying very fast. And he was well-headed for...

"Skuntank!?" Jupiter shouted at the sight of her critically hurt Skuntank. She responsively pulled out a healing potion from her pocket, but she was tackled by a Shinx.

"We have to stop this battle before more of us get hurt!" Nicolas shouted.

Then, Jupiter regained herself. "Skuntank, poison them! They are barbaic enough to even hurt your trainer!"

The Skuntank recovered and spewed out thick, poisonous, and purple liquid around him. "Why did you have to hurt her, huh?" He yelled at the other Pokemon. "You're not even supposed to attack her! You're supposed to attack _me_!" Then, the purple liquid slowly became a poisonous gas.

"Run away from the smoke!" Mackie panicked as he flew away from the growing cloud of toxic gas.

And as Nicolas and Wallace fought against the Skuntank in spite of the high chances of being badly poisoned, Rotom fled from the scene.

* * *

"Remember, we're just pretending to be scared; we're just pretending to be scared; we're just pretending to be scared," Leafy whispered repeatedly in fear as the Golbat cornered her, Tody and Flame.

"I got you in my wings now!" The Golbat bellowed.

"Now!" Tody shouted.

Flame jumped to the air, and did a somersault while covering himself in flames. Then, as an airborne wheel of fire, he hit the Golbat.

"Ow!" The Golbat groaned. "That burns, kid!"

"You can't call us kids just because we haven't evolved yet!" Tody boldly expressed.

"Yeah! What he said!" Leafy followed.

Then, out of nowhere, Anne kicked the Golbat in mid-air, injuring it even further.

"Four against one?" She asked teasingly. "I think this is unfair."

"But I think it's Jupiter's fault that she did not bring enough Pokemon to her job," Flame commented innocently.

"Yeah, I think so," Anne replied, "but it's about time we round up the others and bring them to where the real action is after this—"

The Golbat then went back up and bit the Meditite.

"Ouch! How did I not see _that _coming?" Anne moaned.

"So much for being the one with foresight, then." Tody said with a chuckle, only to be stopped by a nudge from Flame.

Then, a swift move, and the Golbat was already in front of Anne. The Golbat's eyes began to glow an eery purple. And Anne was looking straight at them.

"Ah!" She cried out at the scary sight. She knew she would be confused if she looked any further. "Go, attack the Golbat!"

With no fear, Leafy immediately let two green vines from her necklace of buds extend and hit the Golbat, but the Golbat looked back with the same purple eyes. She was scared but did not look back, and then, she was confused, dizzy and all.

"What did you do with Leafy!?" Flame shouted in anger, his flames becoming brighter and hotter because of the anger.

But the Golbat looked straight at him, and Flame became scared and, knowing what will happen to him if he kept on looking, ran farther away from the scary sight.

Tody looked at the running Cyndaquil. Then, he saw the Golbat focused on the Cyndaquil. Tody hoped that the Golbat would not show his scary eyes to him.

Then, a splash of water hit the Golbat, startling the Bat Pokemon. He turned to see a Torchic and a Mudkip.

"Clive? William?" Anne asked.

"Who else would you think we were?" Clive told her. "Are you suffering from amnesia already?"

"Just defeat the Golbat already!" William impatiently spoke.

"OK, William! I was getting to that part!"

The Torchic opened his beak and out came little balls of fire aimed at the Golbat. The Golbat, suffering from a kick, a vine whip, a big burn, and many small burns, finally fainted.

"At least one Pokemon is down." Anne remarked, still suffering from her bite wound. Then, she looked at the dizzy Leafy. "What about Leafy, though?"

"She will recover soon," Tody replied, "but recovery won't be that fast. We'll have to wait a while for it to go away."

"By the way, where's Flame?" Clive asked curiously.

"He ran away to avoid getting confused like her, I guess." Tody answered.

"We won't do well when all of us are scattered around, so let's gather everyone else first before we defeat the Skuntank." Anne suggested.

"That's a good idea—and funny if you were bitten again with no foresight!" Tody joked.

"The bite is not funny!" Anne complained.

* * *

With the smoke cleared, Frank ran under racks towards the only single door on the entire floor. The door was hidden behind shelves of closed, empty cages; yet there was enough room for even a human to open the door, let alone small Pokemon. It was labeled with a yellow sign with the bold, black words stating: "Master Control Room. Non-Personnel Are Strictly Not Allowed."

"Why do I have to be transformed into a short Pokemon?" he sounded off as he jumped to attempt to grab hold of the door knob but it was in vain.

"Maybe a running start will do." he suggested to himself.

He walked back a bit. And then, he sprinted towards the door. At the last meter, he jumped, but missed the door knob.

He expected to bump his head and fall off, but instead, he stuck to the door with his two hands and two feet keeping him on the surface of the door.

"Why didn't I think of climbing the door?" he said to himself. "Because I'm not used to being a Treecko," he answered to his own question.

With his two hands turning on the door knob and his two feet holding his weight and keeping him from falling, he finally opened the door. He fell from the door, but made a clean landing—no thuds or splats.

He looked back, making sure that any of Jupiter's Pokemon were not in sight.

He stepped forward into the dark room. Although it was dark, he could still see, at least, the outlines of desks, screens, and computers.

"If only I knew how to turn all of these on without any electricity..." Frank mumbled to himself.

The door behind him closed with a thud.

"I'm certain they know that I'm here," Frank calmly mumbled to himself.

"Only one knows that you're here, Frank," a familiar sound voiced, "and that's me, Rotom."

Rotom creepily appeared in front of Frank, yet the Treecko was not startled a lot by the Plasma Pokemon.

"You thought I would be scared by Ghost-types like you?" Frank asked coolly.

"Maybe," Rotom sheepishly replied, but changed his tone; "but why are you here? I'm supposed to set the caged Pokemon free."

"Well, I thought of doing that, too," Frank answered.

"That will be really hard to do if the building doesn't have power." Rotom stated. "And you know very well that I absorbed the electricity in this building and destroyed the backup generators—Still, you need electricity to power the computers, right?"

"Of course," replied Frank. "What are you trying to get at, anyway?"

"I'm a Ghost-type Pokemon," Rotom explained, "but I'm also an Electric-type Pokemon, if you haven't noticed already."

He began to send electricity to the computer. Mechanical sounds were becoming audible, the lights in the room were turning on, the minor screens started to turn on, showing valuable information, infrastructure, security camera feed and the like; and the computer started to boot, showing a selection of actions that it can do.

"I've been a Pokemon Trainer for years, Rotom—" Frank remarked, "of course, before I became a Pokemon myself—but I'm still amazed at the wonders that Pokemon can do."

"Let's get back to the matter at hand, shall we?" Rotom nagged.

"OK, Rotom." Rotom said, giving in.

* * *

"I hear a lot of noise in the top floor of the building!" a Pokemon in the camp hollered, pointing her claw towards the building in question. Every Pokemon's attention on various other matters were taken away at the sound of the shout.

The building seemed to stand out in the night. From the outside, it seemed that all the lights were out, clearly different to most of the other buildings in the city. To make it seem even stranger, a dark purple cloud was rising from the open windows on the top floor.

Questions were asked among the crowd, and some were not questions—rather, some were of surprise, gasps, and the like. Some did kept quiet though.

"I think your actual leaders are there," Rhye calmly announced, "although the smoke could be a distress signal. We might need to get to their location, and fast. They may be battling a tough Pokemon there. Kenneth here will guide those who can't fly, while those who can fly, follow me."

So, Rhye took flight towards the open windows. The Starly, Staravia, Murkrow, Drifloon, Combee and various other Flying-type Pokemon followed the leading Honchkrow, leaving Kenneth and the rest of the Pokemon who seem declined in number.

All the other Pokemon looked straight at the prominent Nuzleaf.

"Friends and those that I do not know," Kenneth began pompously, "let us move forward to the field of battle!"

"You could've just said 'Let's follow Rhye'!" A Skorupi spoke up.

"Uh, yes," Kenneth replied docilely, "let us follow Rhye, whichever way you want me to say it."

Then, he led the crowd of Pokemon into the building, with some Pokemon making sure that their friends, relatives, or even family members were not lost in the crowd; while others were focused on the aspect of fighting as a Pokemon, perhaps maybe taking part in the battle themselves.

Others were just looking forward for orders to follow. And still others were a little scared of the dark.

Yet, they all followed the poetic Nuzleaf. Perhaps the sooner they meet the actual leaders and co-leaders, the better.

* * *

At least the cloud of smoke was no more. But the more dangerous, purple cloud of toxins and poison was growing bigger. The caged Glaceon thought to herself that they can get it through.

She looked at the Kadabra. He looked as calm as he was minutes or perhaps even hours ago. Her sense of time seemed to become lost. Maybe it was the battle that made time seem longer. Or was it that it made time seem shorter?

She shook the question out of her mind.

Then, the lights turned back on. That meant the electricity was back on, too.

She put on a small smile on her face. It was very likely that one of her "heroes" finally got the electricity working. And that might mean they were in the process of opening the closed cages.

She also noticed the Kadabra, who also saw the lights turn on. He managed to stand up inside his little cage.

_Does he know when all of us will be free? _The Glaceon thought to herself. She hoped that the others caged in this very room will also be freed along with her and the Kadabra—if her "heroes" were successful in unlocking the cages, that is.

Then, she heard a loud wind.

* * *

"Here's your overdue reinforcements, Wallace!" Dave announced tiredly, as he, along with Mary and Philipp, arrived at the main scene of battle.

Almost everyone was here now. All but Frank was not here, though they did not seem to notice in the heat of the battle. The attacks that did go through the purple cloud did not clearly tell them if it hit the Skuntank. Jupiter was near Skuntank, but also at a safe distance away from the cloud.

"Thanks, Dave!" Wallace thanked after flinging out some razor leaves at the Skuntank concealed in the poisonous cloud. "But whatever you do, don't tackle him or anything like that! You'll be really poisoned if you breathe it in!"

"So we'll have to hit him without really touching him?" Catherine wondered loudly.

"That's right." Nicolas replied.

"Like this?" Catherine asked rhetorically as she formed a light blue ball in her open mouth, and shot out icy beams out of the ball towards the base of the cloud.

"That's it!" Jupiter shouted, as she ran toward the Buneary and violently grabbed it at her neck. "I've had enough of what you are doing! Stop this or I shall stop you!"

The other Pokemon gasped at the horrible sight of this.

"You can't do that to such a cute Pokemon!" Mackie yelled at Jupiter.

He took flight, and chattered and babbled loud nonsense towards Jupiter. The sounds were so ear-splitting to the commander, she covered her own ears in pain, dropping Catherine in doing so.

As she still covered her own ears with much hurting, Mackie flew over to the scared Catherine.

"Are you OK, Catherine?" Mackie asked with concern.

"Yes, I'm fine, Mackie." Catherine answered, making Mackie sigh in relief. "But what you said at Jupiter; you really called me 'cute'? Does this mean you are in love with me?"

"Ah...uh..." Mackie sheepishly stuttered, with his cheeks blushing.

Then, they heard a loud wind.

"What was that sound?" Mackie said quickly, in hope of distracting Catherine from the topic of love.

"Reinforcements, Mackie." the voice of Rhye spoke.

Everyone turned to the direction of the voice, and they saw the Honchkrow flying behind an open window, along with various other flying Pokemon.

"Rhye, you've finally arrived!" Dave yelled with a smile. "But I think this is overkill for our enemies by now."

As if out of the blue, the Skuntank revealed himself from the toxic cloud and released a hot stream of fire from his mouth and towards the Honchkrow.

"Ah!" Rhye moaned in burning pain.

He looked at the Skuntank but the Skunk Pokemon had already hid himself in his harmful cloud of poisonous gas.

In spite of the burn, Rhye looked at the cloud as if he was unhurt. "If overkill can be achieved, then acheive it."

Then, he was in flight in an instant, with his wings fully spread wide; flying towards the cloud. He did not care if he would be poisoned at all, as long as the job was done.

* * *

**Minutes later,**

"At last; we are at the highest floor!" Kenneth proclaimed in front of every following Pokemon."Being late, that's what I hope not!"

But the battle was all over. On the center of the floor was a fainted Skuntank. Near the Skuntank was a clearly-poisoned Rhye, sitting on the floor; perhaps he was seeking for treatment. Around the middle were most of the camp's leaders and co-leaders and some of their friends. A little farther away was what looked like the leader of the building watched by some strong Flying-type Pokemon, making sure that the supposed leader would not try to escape until further notice.

A Buneary approached Kenneth. "Oh, you must be some kind of literary Pokemon!" the Buneary commented, leaving Kenneth a little surprised. "My name is Catherine! And your name would be?"

"Kenneth is my name." the Nuzleaf answered. "I was appointed by Rhye to be a certain adjunct to him."

"You were an assistant to the Honchkrow while he was the acting leader?" Catherine asked.

"Yes, if you want it to be simplified." replied Kenneth.

"Then it looks like Rhye—I think that's his name, if I remember—told you to come over here. Well, come follow me! You and the rest of the Pokemon in your group must be tired in coming here!"

* * *

"The final thing that you need to do is to confirm the action of unlocking all the cages by clicking on 'Yes'." Rotom instructed.

"And that's it?" Frank asked curiously.

"That's it;" Rotom assured him, "I told you already: I know what I'm telling you."

Frank gripped the computer mouse, having a hard time on controlling since he was now a lot smaller than his old, human self.

"Can you do the honors of doing the final click, Rotom?" Frank said in irritation.

"Technically, I don't have hands remember? And even if I tried to hold the mouse with my so called 'electrical limbs,' I would probably electrocute the mouse and that will destroy all the progress we've made so far."

"I see."

And, after seconds of difficulty, the cursor on the screen was finally over the 'Yes' option; and after two or three seconds of more difficulty, Frank finally clicked the right option.

Then, strange sounds from the outside.

"That's the sound of the cages opening, Frank." Rotom noted. "I would've shed a tear because the caged Pokemon are now free—but I don't know how to."

Frank looked intently at Rotom who was staring at the computer screen, which now showed a window stating that all the cages are now open.

"It's time to go back outside, Rotom." Frank reminded.

* * *

She gasped at the sight of Kadabra's cage opening. He looked around him calmly, and he slowly walked out in steps of freedom.

"I'll be free at last!" She screamed to herself in glee, even jumping up and down just to show how happy she was.

She was right. Just seconds later, her cage—along with every other cage that was on a rack or on a shelf—opened.

"Yes!" She yelled in deep happiness as she jumped out of her cage and into freedom.

* * *

"Hey, did you hear that sound?" Mark questioned Wallace as they walked farther away from the crowded area.

"Of course I did, Mark;" Wallace replied, "Everyone here heard the sound."

"Oh, thank you, thank you, thank you!" a squealing voice sounded.

"I guess there's at least one who's a fan of you." Dave commented jokingly, pointing towards the direction of the squeal.

Wallace looked back and there was a Glaceon running to him. Then, she stopped right in front of him.

"I really thank you for getting me out of my cage, Mister Turtwig!" the Glaceon joyfully thanked as she shook the seedling on Wallace's head.

"I think you're now the fresh prince of love-air, Wally!" Mark whispered in Wallace's ear, but the Turtwig just shook it off.

"And this is supposed to be a handshake?" Wallace asked rhetorically.

"Of course it is supposed to be one, silly!" the Glaceon answered with a smile on her face. "I resort to something like this when you can't really shake with your paws or claws. I learned this handshake when I watched what humans do when they talk."

That last sentence hit Wallace in his head. "Just a question, Glaceon...were you born as a Pokemon?"

"Yes, Mister Turtwig!" she replied happily. But the smile on her face quickly faded away at her answer. "Wait...does that mean you were one of those who were not born Pokemon? Were you transformed a few days ago like the rest?"

"That's correct." Wallace responded truthfully. "I was a human before _that _fateful day. In fact, almost every human was a human before that day. I don't know why a few of them—"

"Than that means you can tell me how a human lived while they were human!" the Glaceon said out of the blue.

"Uh, this is not the proper time to tell that. And it's been a tiring night for us, so we can talk about it tomorrow. You can sleep with us tonight, and tomorrow—that's the time when we can start asking questions."

"Do you have some time to at least have a campfire night? Please?"


	35. Campfire Night

**Chapter 34**

**Campfire Night**

_"Finding good players is easy. Getting them to play as a team is another story" ~ Casey Stengel_

* * *

"I have the feeling that this will become a scheduled event sooner or later," Anne commented as she levitated towards one of the logs surrounding the campfire.

"Do we really have to put the campfire near Eterna Forest?" Peter asked as he got on a nearby log. His face seemed to be splashed with fear. "I'm scared that some scary Pokemon might ambush us! Or what if Team Galactic calls back-up; or—"

"Peter!" Mary concerningly yelled at him as she hit him with a sharp leaf.

"Ow! What did you that for!?" Peter questioned in pain.

"This isn't like your old self, Peter!" Mary explained. "You used to be the brave guy! Now, since you became a Cyndaquil, you're now acting like a coward! What's happening to you?"

"I-I'm not really sure, Mary;" Peter responded, "but I think it's—"

"Because you're still transforming into a Cyndaquil; in a way, that is." Anne interrupted. "Although our bodies are completely transformed, I guess our habits—and perhaps even our personality and our thinking—are still changing into that of the Pokemon we are now."

"So that means that since the typical Cyndaquil is timid," Peter continued, "then that means that I'm becoming as timid as a Cyndaquil?"

"I'm not totally sure about it, but I'm sure enough to say yes," Anne replied.

Peter then looked at his hands—they were not even hands at all but rather stubby forelimbs—at least they were stubby forelimbs to him.

"Just stay here," he said soberly at Mary and Phillip, "I'll have to think about this for a while. Tell me if everyone else has arrived."

The Totodile and the Chikorita did not say a word as they saw the Cyndaquil walk slowly away from the campfire and went behind a tall tree.

* * *

He sat on one of the roots of the tall tree. He let out a sigh and looked up.

It had been only four days and four nights. It was less than a week. He looked down and saw his two forelimbs—was it right to call them hands?

"What's happening to me?" Peter whispered to himself.

He looked up again.

His mind started to go back and reminisce the times were they used to be human. It was a little refreshing for him to remember the acts of bravery that he made. He _was _like a leader in his trio of friends, leading Mary and Philipp at times. He even boasted at other times, but even back then he knew the consequences of being too boastful.

"My parents called me a born leader," Peter whispered further, "I was even elected class president for two consecutive years! I was not scared to do anything good for them. Why am I like this now?"

He felt like crying. It was as if he made a terrible switch of personalities—a switch he did not want. Here he was, someone who was looked up at as a leader when he was human, but if ever any of his other friends or even his parents saw him now—even if they were transformed into Pokemon, too—they might wonder at his cowardice.

He did not ask for this change. And, as far as he knew, the change did not seem to be an accident made by a well-meaning person. It all seemed very true to him that it was done with evil intentions. It all seemed to him that the people behind the transformations did not care about their victims.

"Why is this happening to me?" Peter moaned, as he tried to hold his head—until he realized his stubby forelimbs were too short to hold it—and until he realized that he had no fingernails nor even digits.

He then groaned, letting his thoughts fly through his mind for a few more moments, if not minutes as he thought about the predicament he was in.

"Will I ever be a human again?" Peter asked himself after much pondering.

"Let's do a head count, everybody!" a shout sounded. It came from the campfire site.

* * *

"There's Peter!" Flame cried out, as Peter ran towards the campfire. "Where have you been?"

The place looked the same, but there was more wood on the fire and there was more Pokemon around the campfire. The Glaceon was there. Even Rhye and Kenneth were there.

"OK, Peter is here!" Wallace stated loudly. All of the Pokemon in the site seem to acknowledge him with nods, smiles and the like. "All we have left

"I just needed some quiet time, Flame;" Peter answered with a smile on his face, "I still have to think about how I'm going to live as a Pokemon."

"Well, you can tell it to the others very soon;" Flame spoke, "This campfire time is meant to be a bonding time with others. We can have lots of fun around the campfire!"

"And what exactly what do we do in this 'campfire time'?" Peter asked.

"Well, when all of us are together, we can talk about almost anything, make some jokes around the fire and so on. If we ever go to two groups, we 'naturals' can just—"

"'Naturals'?"

"Naturally-born Pokemon." Flame explained. "I got it from Philipp. Sounds catchy, doesn't it?"

"I can't possibly imagine what he's going to call us former humans." Peter remarked.

"The 'transformed;' he said that former humans should be called the 'transformed.'"

"Do you think Philipp is a separatist or someone like that?" Peter asked. "I hope he's not going to put up one group as better than the other."

"I know what you mean, Peter. They just sound really catchy to me, that's all."

* * *

"Suffering still?" Kenneth asked the ailing Rhye "What will make you recover are the Pecha berries I brought."

He revealed from his behind-the-back hand a crudely-made basket. In it was a pair of Pecha berries. "Some time and risk was all it took me to get these for you."

"That was nice of you, but you don't need to bring those berries to me, Kenneth."

"Is fainting what you want?" the Nuzleaf said with much concern.

"I appreciate your acts, Kenneth," Rhye replied, "but the others already filled a bag with many berries. And even more so, I recall a certain Bibarel who has stocked up a few antidotes."

"However, they're far away!" Kenneth argued. "Nearest to you are these Pecha berries. I do not want to see you faint, Rhye."

"Appreciating your leader, I guess." Rhye commented. "Looks like I have no choice but to eat your Pecha berries."

"Is it because they are sweet?"

"Almost every Pokemon knows that they're sweet."

"We, former humans—not all of us know that Pecha berries are sweet."

"But _I _know they're sweet. _You _know they're sweet. Just give them to me if you really want to see me get better quick."

* * *

"It's time for some time together!" Dave announced to everyone in the site.

"Get on any log you want!" Mark proclaimed. "But remember: First come, first serve!"

Every Pokemon in the scene got to a log. Some got to the log that was nearest to them, others went to a log that had some closer friends or even siblings, still some others just went to the log of their liking. Yet, there will still some that did not choose to sit on a log at all.

"Now, is everyone comfy on their places?" Wallace asked as the group of Pokemon as he moved closer to the campfire. "No one's talking? OK, to be honest, we didn't plan any specific activity for this campfire time. I don't even know if this will be a regular thing or just a special occasion. But we all know it's very different from our 'staff meetings.' So, let's see what we can do here...hmmmm...maybe we can tell our stories about how we reacted when we were changed into Pokemon. We all like stories, don't we?"

"What about those who were not human when they were born, like us?" Mary spoke up.

"You can tell us your reaction when you realized that your trainers got transformed into Pokemon." Wallace replied. "Now, let's start with this Glaceon's story."

The Glaceon had a look of calmness as she went towards Wallace.

"Now, what's your name?" Wallace asked.

"Ehe...my name is Ledas."

"Did your trainer gave you that name?"

"No—" Ledas answered, "my parents were the one who named me. Saphira just called me 'Glaceon.'"

"Saphira?" Anne asked. "Is that your trainer? And can you tell us more about her?"

"Yes. First of all, Saphira is my trainer. She used to live in Snowpoint City, but now she lives in a house in Route 217. I am the first Pokemon that she ever owned and so far, I'm still the only Pokemon she has. She only became a trainer just a few days after her 18th birthday; that was six months ago, if I count correctly. I think her parents want her to study up some more on Pokemon first before really becoming a Pokemon trainer herself. Then, I think it was all a case of bad timing. Her...I'm not sure if I'm supposed to say this...uh..."

She began to halt her words as she tried to get them out.

"If it's something you don't want to say, then don't say it." Anne told with concern. "If she told you to keep it a secret, then it's best to keep it a secret."

"OK...thanks. But I'll tell you what happened when I woke up on the day of the changes."

Mark leaned closer to hear, along with some others.

* * *

**Four mornings ago,**

It was an early, chilly morning in Route 217—as it was oftentimes in a route where its altitude was high and its grounds were daily covered with fresh snow. The sun's light was visible but the sun itself was not seen.

The pitched roofs of the few houses there were topped with snow. The pathways were covered with snow. Some Pokemon who were used to the cold were out in the very early hours of the day.

In the bedroom of one wooden house, the bed seemed to have someone sleeping, but it seemed that she was completely covered in her blanket.

The bedroom itself seemed plain and simple. There was the big bed, two shelves on one side of the wall, the door on the other side, and a desk under the window opposite the bed. A Poke Ball were on the desk, along with sheets of paper, some pencils and pens and a desk lamp. Overall, the room seemed simple enough.

Suddenly, one of the Poke Balls opened. A red beam appeared from it, and it revealed a Glaceon. She stood on the table on her four paws.

"What time is it already?" Ledas groaned as she looked at the dimly lit sky. "Seem's a little too early."

Her Poke Ball opened, and she became covered in the same red beam. Then, the beam returned inside the Poke Ball. The Poke Ball closed.

Half an hour passed by. She only got minutes of deep sleep. Then, from the Poke Ball, Ledas heard a loud thud of a door. Then, a voice. It sounded like her trainer's voice. _Talking to herself? Saphira must be awake, _Glaceon thought.

So the Poke Ball opened and she was concealed in that same red beam. And the red beam went out of the Poke Ball, and she was back on the desk.

What she saw was unusual: Another one like her—a Glaceon—was on the bed. The Glaceon gasped at the sudden appearance of Ledas. But Ledas looked closer at her and she noticed a Never-Melt-Ice necklace around the other Glaceon's neck and a light blue bow on her left ear.

_Wait a minute, _Ledas thought to herself, _did Saphira get another—_

"Glaceon?" the other Glaceon asked with a familiar voice.

Ledas instantly had a strong guess on who had that voice, but she was still not sure. How could that be _her_? She was a human, not a Pokemon. But she had to ask.

"Glaceon? Are you there?" the other Glaceon asked. "It's me, Saphira! Your trainer!"

"Saphira? Saphira is not a Pokemon. Besides, how did you get in her room?"

"You've got to believe me, Glaceon! It's really me, Saphira!"

Ledas then leaped to the bed. _Could this Glaceon be really Saphira? But it would be too sudden! I know I really want to be with her, but she can't just be a human one day and a Glaceon the next!_

"Are you sure you're Saphira?" Ledas questioned. "Or are you just another Glaceon that she caught nearby?"

"I'm really Saphira!" the other Glaceon insisted. "Doesn't the necklace give it away?"

"There's a bunch of Never-Melting-Ice necklaces throughout Snowpoint City. And before you say anything about your bow on your ear, I've seen at least one other Glaceon who has a bow on her ear."

"You're saying you don't believe me?" the other Glaceon asked. Her eyes became watery, but the tears did not seem to fall down.

_She's about to cry? _Ledas thought in astonishment as she looked upon the other Glaceon. _This either means she's really Saphira or this is some kind of well thought-out plan by some sort of syndicate wanting to capture Pokemon._ _Looks like I have to ask something personal._

"I will only believe you if you tell me something only Saphira would know."

"My parents died in an avalanche at the Acuity Lakefront seven months ago!" The other Glaceon shouted very quickly. "It was only after my 18th birthday around a month later where I officially became a trainer and that's also the time when I got my first Pokemon which is you! I got you as a Glaceon, not an Eevee; I never caught any other Pokemon because I was so focused on training you to your very best!"

The Glaceon sighed after saying so many words. "Is that enough for you, Glaceon?" She was already on the verge of tears, but she held on.

Ledas had a look of surprise. Only _the _Saphira would know all of this—and shout them all very quickly—very quickly for a typically shy person. Ledas knew without a doubt that the Glaceon was Saphira.

"I don't know what to say;" Ledas squealed as she started to smile, "I can't believe it, you're a Pokemon! This must be one of the best dreams I had in my life! Looks like we have to make the best of it!"

"This is not a dream, Glaceon." Saphira asserted. "I got somewhat used to my new form and I was able to splash my face with ice cold water."

"And how does that make you wake you up from a dream?" Ledas asked curiously.

"Usually, the normal human feels more alert and awake when they're splashed with ice cold water. So I thought that if I splash myself with ice cold water, I would wake up from the dream."

"But you didn't;" Ledas concluded. "So that means you're _really _a Glaceon!"

"I like you and all, Glaceon," Saphira said worriedly, "but I don't want to _become _one! I planned to finish the extensive training with you in just a few days so we can get to our first Pokemon Gym battle, but now _this _happens! How am I supposed to participate in the Pokemon League? How am I supposed to be a Pokemon Trainer? How am I supposed to _live_? I may know a lot about Pokemon, but I was not told to live it out as a Pokemon myself!"

Ledas heard it all. From the first days under her trainer's ownership, Ledas felt Saphira's passionate intent to not just own a Pokemon, but to take care of it, to nurture it—how splendid the feeling was; to have a companion right by her side, not just a defender but a Pokemon who understands her. But Ledas knew that Saphira wanted all of that from the human perspective—Saphira wanted to be the one to take care of the Pokemon, not the other way around. And Ledas felt that Saphira wanted to participate in Pokemon battles, too.

But now, Saphira was a Pokemon. How could she accomplish her dreams if she wasn't even human at all? All the while, Ledas just held the teary-eyed Saphira with her paw.

Then, an idea struck Ledas.

"Hey, what about if I teach you how to live life as a Pokemon?" Ledas suggested.

"Live life as a Pokemon?" Saphira repeated as she calmed down from her worry. "But I want to be human again."

"Well, we don't know when you'll become a human again—_if _you'll return to being human, that is."

"Speaking of when...do you have any idea who would do this to me?"

"I don't think Tommy would be able to do this to you. You told me that he had a strong grudge against you, but he does not seem to be type of person who does scientific pranks on you."

"I don't think _anyone_ I know would be able to do this me, even if they wanted to." Saphira concluded. "It seems too sophisticated for someone to make me become a Glaceon and I don't even notice it while I sleep at night."

"So...this must be the work of some professors?" Ledas suggested.

"I'm not sure, Glaceon. But I think I should start getting used to being a Pokemon, having four paws and being able to blow out icy winds and all."

"Then let's get outside, Saphira." Ledas said as she happily motioned towards the door. "We've got a lot to learn, especially you; we'll finally be able to really understand each other and I can tell you some things that I can tell only to other Pokemon.

"Oh, I forgot; you never really knew the name that I was born with, did you?"

"No, Glaceon. May you tell me?"

"It's Ledas."

"Ledas." Saphira repeated. It sounded strange to her; then again how would she know Ledas's name if the only words she ever heard from her before were many instances of "Glaceon." "Ledas, does your name really mean anything to you?"

"Actually," Ledas replied as she walked towards the door. "my parents said that 'Ledas' meant 'ice' in a foreign human language. It's more than something that matters to me. In my family, it was tradition to name the newborn Glaceon foreign words that all meant 'ice' or—"

She hit the door headfirst.

"Owie...how do you open this door?" Ledas, rubbing her head, asked.

"That's going to be our problem..." Saphira replied. She looked at her paws. Then, she looked at the door knob. "Hey, Ledas! I got an idea!"

* * *

**Tonight,**

"...and she just leaped to the door knob and she was able to open the door—but then, she fell off!"

Some chuckled at the thought of it.

"Don't laugh at her;" Ledas defended, "to be honest, I would have fell off too if I did that too."

"So what happened after you went outside?" Catherine asked.

"I was able to teach her about getting the berries in the route, then I moved on to teaching her how to drink the water around her. Naturally, we only had access to ice cold water, so even though she liked cold weather, she had some difficulty drinking very cold water daily. I also taught her how to defend me and herself with some basic techniques like Helping Hand, Tackle and even Icy Wind. Truthfully, I was a little touched when she was able to blow icy wind out of her mouth like a natural Glaceon."

"That day seemed very happy to you, Ledas." Anne noticed. "How come you ended up trapped in Team Galactic's headquarters here?"

"It happened on the day after Saphira was transformed. I was teaching her how to gather more berries when a Bronzor appeared. It looked hostile so I told her to get ready just in case it began to attack me. As I expected, it attacked me but it hypnotized me to sleep. I don't know what they did with Saphira. But all I know is that Saphira was not captured along with me. So now, I'm officially looking for Saphira; I know you want to help me, and I appreciate it if you want to help me, but don't just announce it as if it was really important to you. I understand that there's many others in your camp of yours. Just keep this search somewhere a little high in your priorities but not too high. I really want to see her again."

"And that's the end?" William asked.

"Yes, that's the last of what I remember about my trainer." Ledas answered. "I think it's someone else's turn now."

Ledas went back to her log. It was now for others to tell their stories.

"What about our story?" Tody spoke up.

"Will it be so long that we'll sleep halfway through?" Mark joked, and some laughed at the joke.

"Not that long, of course." Philipp retorted. "But It's considerably longer than Ledas's story since it will be about all six of us: Me and Tody; Peter and Flame; and Mary and Leafy."

"This is going to be interesting." Nicolas commented quietly to himself. He leaned closer.

"Well, looks like these Pokemon will be our next storytellers." Wallace announced.

And so, the Pokemon around the campfire began to listen.

"Let's start with Peter since he was the first one to be awake on that day." Flame wanted.

"Ah, thanks, Flame!" Peter said happily, looking at his own Cyndaquil who was for him. "Uh...let's see...how should I start this?..."

* * *

**Four mornings ago,**

Peter yawned as he woke up to the scent of the flowers of Floaroma Town.

"I like a good smell in the morning," Peter expressed, "but this smells too girly for me. Woah, woah, woah!"

He looked at his bed. It seemed awfully larger than before. He turned his head to the left. Then he faced his head to the right. The light brown walls appeared enormous to him. The shelf, the windows, the door, the clock, the drawers—everything seemed a little farther. And everything seemed a lot bigger than usual.

"Huh?" Peter uttered.

He stood up, but he still felt small. He looked down to see why he felt so small.

"Ah! Cyndaquil feet!?" he yelled in surprise. "OK...OK...maybe I'm just seeing things. Maybe my mind's still trying to fully wake up." _But I thought the mind never sleeps, _he soon thought to himself.

He went on all fours and leaped from the bed to the floor. He did not feel any expected sprain on his feet. It's as if he was used to jumping like this.

Then, he went towards the door. He crawled through the pet flap. He went through the hallway, past the two bedroom doors on the hallway. As he walked past the doors, he thought to himself, _What would they think if they saw me as a Cyndaquil? What if they think I'm Flame, or worse, just another Cyndaquil? _

He carefully went downstairs to the simple living room. It only had a mat, a couch, a coffee table, a bookshelf, and a television. They all seemed unusually large to him, too.

He just passed it all of as the drowsiness of his sleepy mind. He went towards the dining room door and crawled through the pet flap.

The dining room was actually a combination of the typical dining room and a kitchen. The other half was the dining room, with a plastic, blue table and four blue chairs. Taking up half of the room was the kitchen, with its cupboards, pans and pots toaster and stove.

Peter went onwards to the kitchen. He then climbed a little ladder that led to the countertop; then, he crawled to the sink. Peter took a little look at the metallic surface of the sink. It was not a mirror, but it showed his face—the face of the Cyndaquil.

"I hope this really wakes me up." Peter breathed.

He nudged with his nose the handle of the sink and the water started to flow from the faucet. _I'm a Fire-type Pokemon; I just hope I won't be hurt by water from a faucet._

Peter leaned closer towards the water. Then, the water hit his face with its gentleness and its very cold feeling. Then, he backed away from the sink.

"Oh no," he uttered to himself with fear, "I still see the sink. I still see the water flowing. That means I was awake the whole time. Am I still a..."

He took a look at the surface of the sink again. It showed his face again—it was not a human face. It was still the face of the Cyndaquil.

"Cyndaquil!" Peter shouted in seeing that his fear has become true. "But, how? How can I be a Pokemon!? How did this—"

"Looks like I'm not the only one here." A voice Peter knew too well sounded.

"Philipp?" Peter looked around, scared that Philipp might think that he was Flame. But instead of the familiar sight of Philipp's human appearance, he saw a Totodile on the floor.

"Peter, I assume." Philipp stated with his scaly arms crossed.

"Philipp, you're a Pokemon, too?" Peter asked redundantly.

"Of course I am!" Philipp asserted. "Is a Totodile not a Pokemon?"

"Yeah but, did you realize that this is real and not a dream?"

"I pinched myself and I did not suddenly wake up as a human," Philipp said with a friendly smile, "so what did you think?"

"You realized it." Peter concluded. "But weren't you surprised when you figured out that you were really a Totodile?"

"I _was _surprised, Peter;" Philipp answered as he went up the little ladder, "but I'm not the sort of person who screams at every surprise. I found that really annoying."

"Uh..." Peter stammered, recognizing that he had acted to surprise with an annoying shout.

"So now," Philipp began, "we have to ask ourselves the all-important question: When will we get back to being human?"

"Why ask me?" Peter retorted. "I don't know when we'll be humans again. I don't even know if we're going to be Pokemon for just some time or for the rest of our lives."

"Then let's act as if we're going to be Pokemon until death, Peter." Philipp stated. "We have to _adapt _to being a Pokemon. We have to start getting used to the life of a Pokemon."

"But what if we _do _get to be human again?" Peter asked.

"You said it yourself that you're not sure if you'll be a human again." Philipp replied. "Better to expect the worst than to expect for something a little better."

"That means we have to learn how to eat, drink, walk, and even battle like a Pokemon!" Peter sounded off. "I'm just very used to

"How many years has Flame been your Pokemon, Peter?" Philipp retorted, leaving Peter quiet. "More than three years, right? Yes, we were already in our early teenage years when we received our first Pokemon, but still, three years is a long time. You have learned a lot about the Pokemon life just by training and being friends with your Flame, let alone the other Pokemon that you got along the way."

Peter was left silent for a little while, as he thought it all out.

"What do you have to say for yourself?" Philipp asked.

"You're saying that I learned much of the essentials of living life as a Pokemon by being with my Pokemon throughout all those years?" Peter replied.

"I can't believe you didn't realize it until now." Philipp remarked. "Then again, I think your being a Cyndaquil is hindering you from realizing things like this quickly."

"Oh great, are you saying that I'm being changed into a Cyndaquil in the _inside_?"

"Think so, Peter. Don't worry, though; I think I'm going through this also, although it doesn't seem obvious now."

"OK, at least we know what we're dealing with—wait, if you and me are Pokemon, what does that say about Mary?"

"I bet she's a Pokemon today and I bet she's a Chikorita." Philipp concluded.

"And why do you say that?"

"If you can't beat them, join them,' Peter."

"And how is that—"

"AAAHHH!" A female voice screamed.

"Mary, we're coming!" Peter shouted as he leaped from the kitchen countertop to the floor.

"Wait for me, Peter!" Philipp yelled as he jumped from the countertop and followed Peter.

Peter climbed the stairs and was relieved that the steps were not few and far between. Philipp was following with lesser difficulty in climbing the stairs. Then, Peter ran in the hallway, stopping in front of Mary's door. He slowly crawled half-way through the pet flap.

"This can't be!" Peter heard. "I'm a Chikorita!"

"Mary?" Peter called out loud from the pet flap.

"Peter!?" Mary shouted in fear. "Don't take this the wrong way! The talking Chikorita is Mary! Wait, where are you, Peter?"

"I'm just outside the door, Mary!" Peter yelled. "And did you say talking Chikorita?"

"Yes; I just woke up today then I saw that I was a Pokemon!"

Peter wanted to respond, but he kept quiet as he retracted himself from the pet flap.

"So my hunch is right, Peter." Philipp voiced.

Peter turned and saw Philipp running towards him in the hallway.

"Took you some time to scale the stairs, Philipp?" Peter asked rhetorically.

"Let that matter go." Philipp answered with a tired look. "But Mary is a Chikorita, isn't she?"

"She is; she said so."

Then, the pet flap unexpectedly opened and out came a scared Chikorita, surprising Peter and Philipp.

"Where are you Peter?" the Chikorita asked while she looked left and right. Then, she saw a Cyndaquil and a Totodile.

"Tody! Flame!" the Chikorita sounded. "Have you seen Peter?"

"Actually, Mary," Peter began, "I am Peter. The Totodile here is Philipp."

"What!?" Mary yelled out of surprise. "You've been turned into Pokemon, too?"

"It's true, Mary;" Philipp answered, "we're really Pokemon. You are too, if you haven't figured it out yet."

"I already figured it out a minute ago, Mister Phil!" Mary responded with irritation on her face. "But, if we're really Pokemon, what are we going to do?"

"Philipp told us that we should start living as Pokemon, Mary." Peter explained. "I know it's all very sudden, but I don't know with Philipp unless it's about survival."

"What do you mean you don't know about Philipp?" Mary asked. "Aren't you supposed to be the leader, Peter?"

"Uh...I..."

"Huh?" a voice sounded.

All three turned to the source of the voice. They saw a Totodile coming from Philipp's door.

"Hold on." Philipp started. "Tody, is that you?"

"Of course;" Tody answered back. "Wait, you sound familiar. You sound like—"

"Philipp?" Philipp interrupted. "And before you ask how I know your name, I named you years ago, Tody."

"Are you sure?" Tody questioned. "I thought Philipp is a human."

"I _was _a human, Tody." Philipp replied.

Tody went closer to Philipp until Tody was close enough to touch his scaly hands.

"Wait a minute...you're a Pokemon now, Philipp?" Tody asked.

"I didn't ask it for it, but I'm a Pokemon right before your eyes."

Then, unexpectedly, Tody hugged Philipp.

"I did not see that coming." Mary commented.

"Do you know what this means, Philipp?" Tody began. "We can be friends on the same level! Both of us can understand what the other's saying; you don't need to bend down just to give me something and I don't need to find a way to get up just to give you something—this will be fun while it lasts!"

"You can stop hugging me now, Tody. It's already hurting me!" Philipp said between gasps as the hug tightened.

Then, the pet flap of Mary's door opened up and out came another Chikorita.

"Leafy?" Mary asked.

"Mary?" Leafy asked back.

_Now Flame is going to wake up then I'll have to greet him as a Cyndaquil; _Peter thought, _this will be interesting._

Quickly, Peter ran past the four Pokemon and went towards his door which was between Mary's and Philipp's doors.

"What are you doing Peter?" Philipp asked, making Tody look at the Cyndaquil going towards Peter's door.

Then, Peter banged his nose on the pet flap of his door.

"Ouch..." Peter expressed as he tried to rub his noise—until he realized again that his hands weren't really human hands but the hands of a Cyndaquil.

Then, a Cyndaquil came from the other side of the pet flap.

"Wha...do I know you?" Flame asked.

"It's me, Flame." Peter answered. "I'm Peter."

"Peter?" Flame wondered out loud. "You sound like him...were you changed into a Cyndaquil?"

"Yes, Flame;" Peter replied. "I don't who did this to me, but...what do you think about your trainer now, since he is now like you?"

"Is this real?"

"Yup, buddy. This is real."

The two Cyndaquil remained silent. Then,

"It's as if I was hoping this day would come, Peter." Flame said to his trainer. "I wasn't expecting you to become a Cyndaquil, but I was hoping that one day, you would truly know the Pokemon language."

"Aww, I didn't know you wanted me to understand your words."

"Well, do you know how long you'll remain a Cyndaquil?" Flame asked.

"I don't know;" Peter replied, "but I almost forgot to tell you, Flame: Mary and Philipp are also Pokemon."

"Huh!?" Flame exclaimed. "I want to see them outside!"

Then, Flame ran out of the room. Peter followed him.

When they went out to the hallway, Mary, Philipp and their Pokemon were not in sight.

"Maybe they're outside the house, Peter." Flame guessed.

Then, they went down the stairs with caution, through the living room, and out the living room door through the pet flap. They stopped at the house's patio.

The outside was beautiful. The sun was shining, although a few clouds were present in the blue sky. On the ground, their backyard and their front yard was covered with grass, with a few weeds and a few flowers here and there. In one corner were bushes of various berries. It was all surrounded by a whitewashed picket fence. Near the gate of the picket fence was a mailbox.

Then, they saw two Totodile and two Chikorita talking to each other, but they didn't notice the two Cyndaquil on the patio.

"There they are!" Peter said.

"OK, I know you may not be expecting this, Peter," Flame began, "but I want to tell you first-hand how to live as a Pokemon."

"Philipp notified me about that."

"But he only notified you about it, not told you about how to live. You're a Pokemon now, and it's only fitting that your own Pokemon would start teaching you how to _be _one."

"Woah; I want to learn about it and all, but I don't want to lose my humanity!"

"You won't;" Flame assured, "you still have your human memories with you?"

"Of course, Flame." Peter answered. "To be honest, it's awkward taking orders from a Pokemon."

"Maybe it's because you're so used to ordering Pokemon that if Pokemon started ordering you everyday, you might feel strange. But think of this as an act of thanksgiving, Peter; thanks for not just having me as your first Pokemon, but for being best friends with me, not just teaching me."

Peter was quiet for a while. "I...you're welcome, buddy." Peter said with a smile on his face. "Let's get to the others, now."

* * *

**Tonight,**

"After that," Flame continued, "me and Peter gathered everyone. I told our trainers about training them on the Pokemon life. We taught them everything about living life as a Pokemon. Me, Tody and Leafy felt awkward doing this because isn't this something we teach to our offspring? None of us don't even have a mate yet, let alone children to begin with!"

A lot of them laughed at Flame's statement.

"But we did not realize that we were not the only ones who got transformed;" Mary told, "we only realized it when a Starly came a little later..."

* * *

**Four mornings ago,**

"Like this?" Philipp said as he exhaled. A whirling spiral of water came from his mouth and hit the grass, splashing the two Chikorita nearby.

"Hey, watch it, guys!" Mary sounded off.

"I thought Leaf Pokemon like you benefit from water!" Philipp joked, something that was unusual for him before.

"Now you're getting the hang of it, Philipp!" Tody cheered.

Then, out of the blue, the two Totodile felt a great heat.

"What was that?" Philipp exclaimed as he turned to see where the heat was coming from.

The two Totodile saw Flame and Peter with their backs on fire.

"At least I'm able to ignite some fire." Peter admitted. "If it bothered you, then I'm sorry."

As he apologized, everyone heard a loud voice.

"Mail!"

Almost immediately, they looked at the mailbox. They saw a Starly holding an envelope with his beak on the mailbox.

"Oh, it's Peter the Cyndaquil and friends!" the Starly voiced as he saw the six Pokemon on the front yard.

"Wait, how did you know I was a Cyndaquil?" Peter questioned.

"Remember me," the Starly replied, "the second-generation newsboy who knows every name in town?"

"Donny?" Mary asked. "Is that you?"

"The one and only Donny!" Donny introduced. "I woke up to quite a surprise today, but good thing I got over it in record time."

"Looks like we're not the only ones who got changed into Pokemon." Philipp remarked.

"You guys sure aren't!" Donny stated. "And we're not the only ones, too; there's more."

"Is everyone in Floaroma Town a Pokemon?" Leafy asked.

"Yes, everyone in this town is a Pokemon, Mary's Chikorita...whatever your name is. I never got to remember the nicknames of every Pokemon here; I only know the names of everyone who used to be a human here."

"Will the government respond to this?" Tody asked.

"They already did." Donny said. "How do I break the news to you, now? Well, I assume you haven't turned on your television to see the news, so I'll be the first one to tell you this: Almost every human in Sinnoh has been turned into a Pokemon."

"What!?" Mary and Leafy exclaimed at the same time. The rest just gasped at the statement.

"Oh wait, that was not true. The truth is: Almost every human in the _entire world _has been turned into a Pokemon."

"No way..." Peter could only say.

"How do you know this?" Philipp questioned.

"I checked the news on TV, the incomplete edition of today's newspaper, and a call from my parents."

"You're a person we trusted for some time now, so we believe you;" Peter said, "but if almost everyone's a Pokemon, do you have any idea that those who are _not _Pokemon were part of some elite group or they're spared at random?"

"The only people who remained people today were connected to some kind of group of Pokemon-stealers but other that, I don't know any more about them."

"Could they have been the ones who—" Flame began.

"Ah! I just realized that I have a schedule to keep;" Donny said in a hurried tone. "I would like to stay and talk with you some more about this, but I have letters and envelopes to send! Sorry for the early leave, but goodbye!"

Then, almost instantaneously, he prepared to fly and took flight to, apparently, the post office.

"What are we going to do now?" Mary asked. "The gym leaders obviously don't steal Pokemon so I assume they're now Pokemon too. I don't know if we can still participate in the Pokemon League."

"I think we can still get to the League, Mary." Leafy said. "You and the gym leaders can still fight, although they will have to fight as Pokemon."

"She's right, Mary." Philipp remarked. "If almost the entire human population on Earth is now part of the Pokemon population, it's very likely that the Pokemon League will be run entirely by Pokemon. The gym leaders are now Pokemon, the contestants of the Pokemon League are now Pokemon, the members of the Elite Four are now Pokemon, even the champion is now a Pokemon. The Pokemon League can't just end now because all of its participating people are now Pokemon."

"So...we'll train for the Pokemon League?" Peter asked.

"Yes, Peter." Philipp answered. "All of us will."

* * *

**Tonight,**

"Did you ever meet Donny again?" Ledas asked.

"We only saw him again as we left for Eterna City and that would be three days ago." Peter replied. "Speaking of seeing, where is Mark?"

"Here!" Mark's voice sounded.

They looked at the source of the voice. They saw a Chimchar and a Piplup pulling two sacks filled with berries. They were so full that some berries were already falling from the sacks' openings. They also saw a Nuzleaf who was holding a big bunch of small wooden sticks.

"Fresh, skewered berries or barbecued berries, anyone?" Kenneth asked.

"It's eating time, everyone!" Mark announced.

The scene seemed happy as Mark and Dave distributed the berries and Kenneth handed out the sticks to skewer the berries with.

"Hey, how am I supposed to hold the berries!?" Nicolas complained. "I don't have anything to hold them with! Wallace and William don't have any hands,too!"

"Me too!" Mary expressed.

"You can hold the berry with your mouth and if you want it hot," Mark suggested, "you can hold the berry near the fire."

"Won't that hurt me and Leafy?" Mary asked.

"You're not going to actually touch the fire, are you?" Mark asked back. "I don't want to say it, but here it is: That's not my problem. If you're on fire, ask Dave to water you down." Then, he went back to giving out the berries.

As he gave the berries out to everyone in the site, Wallace stopped him.

"Mark, do you mind if I tell everyone that the food is over here?" Wallace asked. "The berries are abundant in this part of the forest alone! There's going to be enough for everyone!"

"Of course, bring everyone here!" Mark replied with a smile on his face. "I always like big hangouts."

"Good!" Wallace exclaimed as he ran towards the main camp to tell everyone about "eating time."

Then, more and more Pokemon started coming. They talked, had small games, and ate to their heart's content. Some told their stories, others just had a pseudo-competition to see who was stronger (as long as there were no accidents) and still others still came for the food alone.

It all seemed like a happy late night.

* * *

"OK," Kenneth began, "you, beside Wallace's usual sleeping place you should sleep. By morning, greet him when he wakes up. You, beside Dave's sleeping place you should sleep. Do the same as the first one by morning. And lastly, you, beside Mark's sleeping place, get there and sleep there. Do the same as the former two when it's morning. Understand?"


	36. Lapse

**Author's Note:** First, concerning the OCs (original characters), Gabi Kurashiki will be in the story; I'm not at liberty to say when she will appear, but she will appear. As for Cameron, there is a chance that he might appear in the near-future chapters, although this is not ultimate.

Second, OC forms are still open, but the reviews section is not an OC form section. So, if you have not reviewed this story before and you want an OC here, constructive criticism must be added. I'm a little disappointed if people add to the number of reviews and when I check, it's just a pack of filled-up OC forms. So, again, although OC forms are appreciated, constructive reviews are appreciated more.

Third, I appreciate Frostleaf for her review. She doesn't need to be a constant review; one review is sufficient. But is she wants to be one, let her be careful in doing that.

Thanks for understanding.

* * *

**Chapter 35**

**Lapse**

_"Of two evils, choose neither." ~ Charles Spurgeon_

* * *

After midnight, the time of having fun together ended as the campfire died out and as many, even the leaders and their friends, began heading towards a place to sleep near the boundaries of Eterna City. Some went to sleep in Eterna City and a few of them even slept inside the houses and buildings of the city.

Outside Eterna City and in the northern part of Route 205, many slept on the green grass. The stronger ones slept in the taller grass. Others slept leaning on rocks and others more slept relaxing on the trunk of the trees, while various Flying-type Pokemon slept on the branches of those trees. Still, others were still not used to the fact that they were Pokemon, so they slept in the tents they brought. Some Water-type Pokemon slept underwater, the feeling of being in the water being a newfound pleasure to those who were human before.

Only a few were chosen to remain awake to defend the camp; most of them were nocturnal because of being the Pokemon they were transformed into. Others were used to the night and would not mind staying up late. Some Sneasel, a couple of Weavile, and a few Noctowl made up most of the camp's guardians.

Only a few who were not the camp's defenders remained awake. Some were Pokemon that usually stayed awake at night and slept at the morning and they couldn't bring themselves to sleep even in the very early hours of the new day. Some others were so full from the food that they couldn't sleep because of the food. Still, there were some others who still wanted to have fun even at such an early time, so they quietly played on with each other.

* * *

"The skewered berries you enjoyed, did you, Rhye?" Kenneth asked, sitting on a thick branch in the moonlit night.

"Yes, Kenneth." Rhye replied. "What is not enjoying me, however, is your tendency to speak like a poet everyday. Are you trying to hide something?"

"Much of it has occurred due to my desire to be a person of literature on the day that is right;" Kenneth responded, then lied, "To hide from you—why would I commit such an act? Obedient I shall be if you command me to disclose any secret."

"Don't worry, Kenneth. My suspicion could be wrong. But, I could only make a suspicion if I really sense something unusual in the atmosphere."

"Psychic, are you?"

"No, I'm not a Psychic. In fact, I hate psychic powers, although I respect Anne and others who got changed into Psychic-type Pokemon. Me being a Dark-type Pokemon, let alone a Honchkrow, is saying something about my stance on my dislike towards these sorts of abilities. Oops, it looks like I'm going off-topic, am I?"

"Rhye, you surely are." Kenneth answered.

"Well, perhaps since I became a Honchkrow, I rarely speak in paragraphs. Just tonight, I observed my self as I looked at how much I spoke during these life-changing days. Whenever I spoke, it's as if there's something in me that told my mind to keep my speech short. It's only when it's necessary to make my sentences longer that I do it. And this is one of those times, I guess."

Kenneth did not respond. He just kept quiet and silent as he pondered on Rhye's thoughts. Then, he yawned.

"If you have to sleep, go sleep." Rhye told.

"Rhye, I will." Kenneth replied. "Talking to you has been nice."

The Nuzleaf headed towards the center of tree. Then,

"Come back here, Kenneth; there's one secret I want to know. "

Kenneth gulped. He immediately stopped. He could not just contradict his own statement by not obeying Rhye's voice. Hesitantly, he went back up, making sure he did not look strange.

"Rhye, what do you want to be revealed?" Kenneth asked.

"Oh, I just want to know what were you doing back in the party." Rhye answered. "I saw you running like a Pokemon on a mission. Would you tell me what 'mission' you were trying to complete? And you have to swear that you're absolutely telling the truth."

"Swear? Trust in me, I thought you had!" Kenneth retorted.

"I trust you, just not that much. We've known each other for only three days. Now, swear to me that what you are about to say is entirely truth."

Rhye raised his wing. Kenneth raised his hand.

"Say what I say, Kenneth: I, Kenneth, swear that what I will say is entirely truthful and that no deceit is found within my words."

"Perhaps." Kenneth began."'I, Kenneth, swear that what I will say is entirely truthful and that no deceit is found within my words.'"

"At least you didn't talk like a poet;" Rhye joked, "but all laughs aside, tell me why you looked like you were in a hurry earlier?"

"Spoken from me minutes ago was that I shall be obedient if you commanded me to disclose any secret that is mine. Here is the truth: The Pokemon that I attempted to show you as the Pokemon of Wallace, Mark and Dave—they; do you remember?"

Rhye remained silent.

"That will be noted as a positive response." Kenneth continued. "Truthfully, placed beside their supposedly respective trainers they were by me; beside their trainers they are sleeping now. It was hoped by me that you would not become tempestuous."

"You mean angry?" Rhye asked.

"Correct."

"Well, I'm not really angry at you, Kenneth. But, there's obviously more than three trainers who got transformed into this region's starter Pokemon. Are you sure they're the leaders' Pokemon?"

"They are;" Kenneth answered firmly. "even the name of their hotel room in the hotel at Jubilife City they disclosed to me. Even the names of their respective trainers they have revealed to me."

"A lot of Pokemon in the camp know their names, Kenneth; they're the Pokemon who started the camp. And almost anyone can come up with a name for a hotel room and get away with it, as long as they know how the management names the rooms."

"Put your trust in me, Rhye." Kenneth pleaded. "The leaders' Pokemon are really they."

"Wait, I just realized something:" Rhye said. "Why are you very interested in the leaders' lives?"

"It's their welfare I'm taking care of."

"I understand, but aren't you taking this too far? You have _your_ welfare to take care of. What's the use of trying to take care of even the leaders' welfare if you throw your own welfare out the window?"

Kenneth said no word.

"Your behavior is becoming unusual, Kenneth. What if the Pokemon you thought were the trainers' Pokemon were _not_? What if they're part of Team Galactic's plan to cause chaos so it can achieve its goals faster? Or what if they're just imposters or even robbers?"

Then, Kenneth left the branch and climbed down the tree.

Rhye just looked at the descending Nuzleaf. "Can I trust anyone these days?" he asked himself. Then, he leaned on a thicker branch and slept.

* * *

Hours later, the sun was visible. The sun's rays penetrated the dense forest nearby. It was early morning. It was now five days after almost every human in the world were transformed into Pokemon.

All of the camp's guardians headed for their little slumber. Some Pokemon were wide awake already. The rest of them were either in their final hours of sleep or awake but only just.

Dave woke up from his sleep. As he stretched his flippers, he still felt sleepy. He was not surprised that he was still a Pokemon. _Five days are too long for a dream, _he reasoned in his head. He heard a splash.

He looked to the nearby lake. He saw a Milotic swimming in it. She was followed by a few other Water-type Pokemon; they swam after her as if it is for the fun of it. And they clearly seemed awake.

"I hope the water's cold." Dave uttered. He began charging towards the lake. Then, he felt a tug. Dave stopped himself right before he fell to the lake.

"What do you want now?" he complained as he turned his back.

What he saw did not surprise him much; it was a Piplup, the same Pokemon Dave was.

"Oh, who are you again?" Dave asked. "You seem familiar."

"Don't you recognize me, Dave?" the Piplup asked back. "We've first met the day before you got changed into a Piplup."

"The day before the transformation? Let's see...are you the sailor with the Wailmer?" Dave questioned.

"Nope," the Piplup answered.

"You're the sailor who drove our ship to Canalave City?" Dave asked again.

"Nope."

"OK...you're definitely not Professor Rowan...are you the receptionist at the hotel in Jubilife City?"

"Still a nope. Give up, yet?"

"Just one more guess; I think you are...you are..."

"Here's a hint: I was born a Pokemon."

"Wait...if you were a Pokemon from the start...are you my Piplup?"

"That's it!" the Piplup exclaimed. "I'm the Piplup you got from Professor Rowan. That means I'm your Piplup. That also means I'm the Piplup you left in the Poke Ball when you left the hotel!"

"Oops!" Dave apologized quickly. "I really didn't mean it! I only owned you for a day, so I didn't think of you when the ceiling was on fire."

"I saw it when I got out of the Poke Ball. I saw the wall and the floor got burned, too. Your beds got burned and—"

"We didn't burn everything down to the ground, and you know that, Piplup!" Dave retorted. "I wasn't even the one who started; it was Mark who did."

"I understand, but didn't you think of your own Pokemon when you were away?"

Dave felt guilt. He knew that he only thought of how he would survive being a Pokemon; he did not even think of how his only Pokemon would live in a world where humans have become scarce. How could he say that he did not even think of his own Piplup and not expect disappointment? But he was only half-awake.

"OK, I don't really remember a time where I thought about you, until now that is. I hope you don't get mad at me. And honestly, it's strange for me to say sorry to my own Pokemon when I'm a Pokemon too. Just don't get angry."

The Piplup saw Dave's sad face.

"I understand your problem, trainer," the Piplup comforted. "I understand since your hotel room got on fire, and perhaps you were running for your lives to the fire exit."

Dave chuckled a little at the statement.

"But I _did _expect better from you. It was the second day that you owned me so I thought you would think of me first when you woke up."

"Well, I spent over a decade and a half being a human, so waking up one day and suddenly figuring out you're now a Pokemon went to the top of my list that day."

"Have you even thought about getting the Poke Balls when you were leaving your room?"

"No, and I said 'sorry' already, OK?" Dave admitted quickly.

"It's OK, Dave. But I hope the 'sorry' is a real 'sorry.' And I'm surprised at how fast things are going for you."

"What do you mean by that?"

"You seem to adapt to being a Pokemon very quickly," the Piplup observed. "In fact, a lot of former humans are adapting to this very quickly, too. But I still see some who are struggling with this."

"Me? Adapt very quickly?" Dave asked. "Gee, thanks. And to think that a compliment like that is coming from someone I neglected."

"I didn't intend it to be a compliment," the Piplup asserted, "but I can accept that."

"OK, OK, OK. Stop it," Dave erratically stated. "I appreciate all the talk, but I just woke up. I'm still a little sleepy, and since you're here...care to take a swim with me?"

"Are you sure you can swim as well as a natural Piplup?" the Piplup asked.

"Just go," Dave replied. Then, suddenly, he jumped and fell to the water.

Dave just looked at the lake. He looked at the various other Pokemon in the lake.

"If you say so, Dave," the Piplup muttered. He ran towards the lake and jumped.

* * *

Wallace ended his sleep and opened his eyes to the blue sky and the morning sun. He rose up from his sleep, and took his first few steps of the day. He accepted the fact that he was still a Pokemon; he did not whine at all. He knew that complaining and worrying wouldn't take him a step closer to being a human again.

_Five days, _Wallace thought to himself as he walked. _Soon, I have to keep a written record about how many days it will have been since we've been transformed._ _I wonder what our first anniversary in being a Pokemon would look like. But, I have to do my duties._

"Hey, Wallace!" a voice called out.

"Huh?" he said, startled at the voice.

Then, he felt the presence of another Pokemon near him. He felt it rush past him and he saw a Turtwig running, only to stop near him.

"Oh, what's your name again?" Wallace asked. "I did not memorize every name in this camp, so please bear with me."

"Actually, I'm a natural-born Pokemon," the Turtwig answered, "but my parents named me 'Bodem.'"

"Oh, a natural Pokemon," Wallace complimented; "Are you a wild Pokemon or do you belong to another trainer, Bodem?"

"I belong to somebody, Wallace,"Bodem stated, "but you'll be really surprised when you figure out who I belong to. I belong to...you!"

"Woah!" Wallace exclaimed in surprise. "You mean, you're the Turtwig that Professor Rowan gave to me? And you manged to find me here?"

Before Bodem would reply, Wallace slightly bowed his head down. "I apologize for leaving you at the hotel room back there! I wasn't focused at all and we were still in a panic back then. I am really sorry about it. Please forgive me."

"You don't need to say everything about what you've done," Bodem said. "I'm more than willing to forgive you, even though we've only been with each other for a day. And if you think that isn't enough, what about a head bump?"

* * *

Mark opened his eyes. He stretched his arms and his hands as he yawned and rose himself up to the morning.

"Why do I have to wake up _this _early everyday?" Mark asked himself."Why can't I have my shift moved to the afternoon hours?" _I'll have to ask Wallace about this myself, _Mark thought.

He walked away from the shade of the tree. But while he walked away, he did not notice the Chimchar sleeping under a nearby tree.

* * *

"So," Wallace asked as he walked with Bodem along the lake, "how did you react days ago when you realized that almost every human on the entire planet got transformed into a Pokemon?"

"Um—I was surprised. Maybe as surprised as you were on that day. But when we got out from our Poke Balls and saw that you weren't on the bed, we thought you went down the elevator to get some breakfast. That's when we saw the scorches in the room. _That _surprised us first. We only knew you for two days back then, so we had many crazy ideas about why your room would be scorched."

"Actually," Wallace explained, "Mark went into a frenzy after he realized that he was a Pokemon, so he started spewing out fire. To me, a lot of Chimchar don't look good at controlling their anger, so that didn't help the situation any bit."

"And I guess Dave, the Piplup, took care of the problem when he figured out how to use his abilities as a Piplup."

"That's right. After that, we got down the elevator. How we were able to use it is another story. So, please continue."

"OK. Now, from where I left off, we decided to look out the window to see if the scorches were there. We saw none. But what we did see was a lot of Pokemon. It was too early for this many Pokemon to appear on the roads, so I finally said to Neha and Aigua that this is not a normal—"

"Neha and Aigua?" Wallace asked. "Are those the natural names of Dave's and Mark's Pokemon?"

"Yes," Bodem replied; "Mark's Chimchar is Neha while Dave's Piplup is Aigua.

"Let's continue—we went down the stairs. It was long, but we were able to get down to ground level. Down there, we did not see a single human—and that was our second surprise. Then, we saw a Mismagius behind the reception counter. Neha said that the Mismagius might know what happened to the humans. So, we asked her if she knew where the humans were. The Mismagius told me that she _was _a human—until she woke up that morning. That was our third surprise. We asked her if she saw any humans in the hotel at all. She said that she saw none that day. But she told us that she did saw a lot of Pokemon that used to be humans like her."

"And that was your fourth surprise?" Wallace asked.

Then, the two Turtwig were splashed with water. They looked and they saw various Water-type Pokemon swimming in the lake. Some took notice of the Turtwig. Some waved their fins and limbs at them. The two Turtwig even heard a loud "Sorry!"

They looked at the lake for a few more seconds. Then,

"Yes, Wallace. It was my fourth surprise. However, we did not believe it at first. The Mismagius told us that if we didn't believe that it was real, we should go ask some of the Pokemon in the lobby. And so we did. We were surprised even more when many Pokemon in the lobby used to be humans. Some of them even told us their human names. That was our fifth surprise. But that wasn't the last one."

"The sixth surprise was when you realized that almost every human in the world was transformed into a Pokemon?"

"Actually, that was our seventh surprise. The sixth surprise happened when we went back to the reception to ask the Mismagius if _every _human in the hotel was turned into a Pokemon. She told us a yes. And not only that, she even told us that if we had our trainers in the hotel, they were surely a Pokemon on that day.

"So we thought to ourselves, 'What is going to happen if our very own trainers were now Pokemon like us? How will they fight human trainers if our trainers are Pokemon? What are we going to say if we are actually trained by Pokemon?' And if that wasn't enough, the TVs turned on and showed us a news report."

"News?" Wallace repeated. "But, I thought the news channels would be closed for a long time since those operating the channels were now Pokemon."

"The news report the TV showed that day was not the news reports you were used to watching. It looked very simple. It was blocks of big words spoken by someone that sounded a lot like a robot. The words told us that every channel in the region would be off for an 'indefinite amount of time.' The words further said that it was because, apparently, every human on the entire planet was transformed into a Pokemon. That was the seventh surprise."

"I'm sure that would've caused some panic," Wallace observed.

"It _did_ cause panic," Bodem replied; "First, Mismagius was clearly taken aback by the announcement. I think she was saying something about her family. But we didn't pay much attention to that because I heard the sound of glass breaking. We turned our backs, and it looked like a Pokemon or two broke it. Aigua had the hunch that they wanted to steal. To me, it did make sense why: Because many people would be in 'panic mode,' and because of that, their daily lives would be more impaired. The thieves and criminals would take advantage of that and steal right out in the open."

"Hey look, honey trees!" Wallace shouted.

"What do you mean, 'honey trees'?" Bodem asked, but he saw it too.

They were at the far edge of the lake. They could also see the bridge from there. But after the lake, they saw a small group of trees, with their trunks unusually covered in honey. Surrounding the trees was tall grass, but that did not matter to them; the area was under their camp's territory.

"Want to taste some?" Wallace asked, his eyes focused on the honey itself.

"Don't you think it could be a trap?" Bodem returned. "The honey looks fresh to me even from this distance. What if some of Team Galactic's grunts are trying to trap you?"

"Oh wait, you're right," Wallace said, coming back to his senses. "But it looks so good to me!"

"Wallace," Bodem spoke up, "you have to resist the urge of tasting the honey. It is really strong for some Pokemon, and it turns out that Turtwig are very tempted to eat honey. I've learned how to resist the temptation of honey because I've seen other Pokemon give in to their urges and, oftentimes, they got caught by other trainers."

"But surely, not every drop of honey is meant to be avoided, Bodem," Wallace argued. Then, he started running towards the trees.

"Hey!" Bodem exclaimed, as he started to chase his trainer. "Although that's true, the amount of honey on the trees is unusually big; the trunks are entirely covered in honey! It's a no-brainer that it's a trap!"

* * *

"Come on, Wallace," Mark muttered as he walked on the wooden bridge, as he did his best to avoid the occasional splashes of water. "You can't be that far. Wait a minute, yellow trees?"

He began to run towards the end of the bridge. As he got closer, he saw that trunks of the trees were of an unusual color—yellow.

_Maybe he's over there, _he thought. And then, he began running again.

* * *

"Want to get back on the land?" Dave's Piplup asked.

"Yes; I think I'm more than wide awake by now."

Then, the two Piplup swam deeper into the water, with Dave following his Piplup. The two suddenly swam upwards, towards the bridge. The speed felt great to Dave as he followed the Piplup. How he was able to swim like this, he could not seem to explain at the moment.

Then, they were above the water. Then, they were in the air. Dave's Piplup landed on the bridge with confidence, but Dave himself landed clumsily, crashing on the bridge, before he tumbled back to the water.

"Dave!" his Piplup shouted while he ran to where his trainer fell.

At the edge of the bridge, the Piplup lowered his head towards the water, looking for Dave. Then, he saw a flipper reach out from the water.

"Dave?" the Piplup asked. "Is that you?"

The flipper shook vigorously.

"I'll take that as a yes."

Then, the Piplup stretched his flipper out towards the other flipper. He reached out with his other flipper, pulling with both flippers what seemed to be Dave.

He pulled harder, and out came Dave. But his Piplup pulled too hard, making Dave fly to the air again. He landed on the bridge clumsily again, but he stayed on it.

"Looks like you still need to practice on landing right!" the Piplup remarked.

"Haha, very funny," Dave replied sarcastically as he got up. "Good for you, you were able to learn how to do it since you were a baby. Me? I have to begin just a few days ago! And now, it's making me hungry."

"So, do you want to try some honey for breakfast?" the Piplup asked.

"Honey? Where are we going to get that?"

"Over there," the Piplup answered as he pointed with his flipper.

Dave looked to where his Piplup was pointing at. He saw the end of the bridge. Just beyond it was a small group of trees with unusually yellow trunks. The trees were surrounded by tall grass and some sleeping Pokemon.

"Now that's a lot of honey," Dave expressed. "But, are we really going to lick the honey from the tree? I'm not as dirty as a Munchlax to stoop down that low."

"But, you're still a Pokemon, aren't you?" the Piplup returned. "I can eat like that and not get booed down. Well, a Glameow might complain about it, but I don't think we have that many Glameow here, right?"

"If you say so..." Dave replied. Then, the two Piplup headed towards the trees.

* * *

"Don't you even have a single doubt about this, Wallace!?" Bodem shouted as he followed his trainer through the tall grass.

"I'm taking my chances!" Wallace yelled back. "Besides, it's breakfast time now, and I'm starving for some food!"

"But what if you get caught by Team Galactic!?" Bodem answered back. "What if their leaders heard about what happened last night, and they decided to send some of their people to capture those who sacked the headquarters?"

"We're superior in numbers," Wallace excused. "If their grunts are here, everybody will be notified in about five minutes or so."

"It's very likely that they'll bring in many of their men!" Bodem argued. "The reason why I'm against you eating that honey is because I'm concerned about you. You're my trainer and I'm your Pokemon—maybe it was like that before you got changed into a Pokemon, but still—I don't want to see you suffer this early."

Wallace looked back at Bodem. "That was very honest of you, actually. I know you really care about me, but I'm going to eat the honey. I have to eat something in the morning; the camp needs leadership today." Then, he went off to the trees.

"Wait for me!" Bodem called out as he followed Wallace towards the trees.

* * *

_The trees smell like honey, _Mark thought as he walked away from the bridge and closer to the trees.

After getting through the tall grass and avoiding waking up some sleeping Pokemon, he saw the trees were near and in front of him. He looked up, and from his perspective, the trees were really tall. Then, he looked back down to the trunks.

"A taste of honey won't hurt, I guess," Mark said to himself.

He stretched his hand towards the honey-covered trunks of the tree in front of him. He pushed his hand into the honey, moving it around to get as much honey as he wanted on one hand. Then, he opened his mouth wide and quickly placed his hand inside his mouth.

_It's sweeter than what I remembered, _Mark observed in his mind as he ate and tasted the honey on his hand. _Maybe it's because I'm a Pokemon. Or maybe it's just me._

* * *

"Here it is," the Piplup announced.

Right in front of Dave and Piplup were the large trunks of the trees; the trunks were covered with much dripping honey.

"Just put your flipper in the honey, pull it out, and put it in your mouth like a lollipop," the Piplup explained. "At least you won't be licking it like a Poochynea."

Dave continued looking at the trunk. "At least it's cleaner, too," Dave added.

Then, Dave put his flipper into the thick honey. He pulled it out from the deep covering of honey and put his flipper into his beak, letting him taste the honey in all its sweetness.

"Hey, it's very sweet!" Dave expressed as he enjoyed the natural delicacy. "But, it's a lot sweeter than the honey I used to eat."

"That's because you humans eat it from a jar, we Pokemon eat straight from the tree itself!" the Piplup boasted.

"That's one benefit of being a Pokemon that I'm going to remember," Dave said as he tasted the honey. Then, he looked to the left. Not far from Dave was a Chimchar in front of the trees, and he was licking his hands.

"Mark?" Dave shouted at the Chimchar.

"Dave?" the Chimchar yelled back. "You like the honey, too?"

"Some nice breakfast this will be," the Piplup commented as he followed Dave running to Mark.

* * *

_No, please, no, Wallace! _Bodem screamed in his head, but did not say anything. He nervously watched his trainer as he licked the honey from the tree, unmindful of his surroundings.

"So, someone enjoys my honey, huh?" a raspy voice sounded, surprising both Bodem and Wallace.

"Wah!" Bodem exclaimed. "It's Team Galactic, Wallace! I knew it! It was a trap all along!"

"You're right!" Wallace shouted as he ran to where Bodem was.

Then, from behind the trees came a Machoke holding a bucket of honey with one hand and a paint brush dipped with honey with the other hand.

"Hey, I'm not in cahoots with Team Galactic!" the Machoke explained briefly.

"Charge!" Bodem shouted as he charged towards the Machoke and tackled him.

"Ow! I gotta admit that hurt a little, but I already said that I'm not part of Team Galactic!"

"You aren't?" Wallace asked.

"I just said so, didn't I?"

"Then why are you slathering honey on the trees, then?" Wallace asked.

"I decided to give your camp a little treat by putting some honey over these trees," the Machoke answered. "Don't be suspicious of me just because I don't have a trainer; I did this because I saw what happened nights ago. And although I have my kind to take care of, I chose to help you."

"And why?" Bodem asked, with a glaring look on his face.

"I was getting there, Turtwig. As a wild Pokemon, I did not care a lot about you humans, but when I heard that almost every human was a Pokemon now, I couldn't help but to at least help those who want to be a human again, even if it's just giving them honey."

"We already have a lot of food and berries in the camp, so why help us?" Wallace asked.

"I only guessed that you had no honey, and these groups of trees are usually slathered with honey by the humans themselves. Since there was practically no human here, I decided to give you and your friends some honey."

"But how did you know Team Galactic?" Bodem asked.

"They caught and captured some of my buddies back at Mount Coronet, and—"

"You came here from Mount Coronet?" Bodem said in surprise.

"Now you're asking way too many questions, Turtwig," the Machoke replied irritated as he came really close to Bodem, surprising Wallace. "We've only just met, and that doesn't make us friends, whether you were a human or not. Understand?"

"Understood," Bodem answered with fear.

"Now, I only heard the name of their team because someone announced it. I tried to fight them, but they had Pokemon that were a lot stronger than me. They even had Psychic Pokemon. I had to run away to avoid losing my freedom. Strangely, it was only the day after I ran away when some Combee told me that almost every human on the planet was now a Pokemon. You know what I did after that."

"You helped us by giving us honey?" Dave asked.

"What?" the Machoke asked back as he looked to his left and saw two Piplup and a Chimchar. "Since when did you get here?"

"We saw you and two Turtwig talking with each other," Dave's Piplup explained.

"And I really like your honey!" Mark yelled.

"Thanks, Chimchar," the Machoke answered, "but let me just tell you that—"

"Bodem!" Dave's Piplup greeted.

"Yes, yes, Aigua, I know," Bodem replied.

"Can you guys stop interrupting me?" the Machoke asked. He was clearly annoyed.

"OK, we'll listen," Wallace answered.

"Thanks. Let me just tell you that I'm not your friend, but I'm not your enemy, either. I have my own journey to travel. I don't know what you're going to do with my honey other than eat it, but after I'm done here, you may not see me again. Explain that to your friends so they won't be scared of the honey, OK? Now, let me get back to my job while you go and have breakfast."

And soon, the others were headed for the other honey-covered trees, some of them thanking the Machoke as they went along.

"Hey, you two Turtwig, get over here," the Machoke called out.

Bodem and Wallace heard it. Dave noticed the call, but he chose to not say anything.

"Are you sure about this, Bodem?" Wallace asked.

"He said he's not an enemy," Bodem answered; "I think he won't hurt us."

"I hope you're right."

The two Turtwig walked to the Machoke. The Machoke put down his bucket and his brush and kneeled down to the Turtwig's level. "Both of you seem to be in a high position in your camp, am I right?"

"Actually," Wallace spoke up, "I'm one of the leaders of the camp. My name is Wallace, while the other Turtwig is Bodem. I used to be a Pokemon trainer for a day until—we all know that day."

"Bodem is your Pokemon?" the Machoke asked. "Don't answer; I think so. All of that aside, I already told you that I am not your friend, and I'm also not your enemy, but, I want to warn you: Since you and your friends got transformed, I have been told that Team Galactic activity has been heightened in urban areas, although I don't know why. There are many like you who want to get those medals even though there are a Pokemon now. I don't care if you want to get one, too, but be careful. That's all I can tell you—I just received this information second-hand."

Then, he quickly picked up the bucket and the brush and went into the pack of trees.

"You still want to get those medals, Wallace?" Bodem asked. "I don't want to see you get hurt."

"It's a gym badge, Bodem. And, we'll still do it. I and my brothers just became trainers six days ago. Just because we're Pokemon doesn't mean we should stop our goal as trainers."

"But, what about—"

"The gym leaders are now Pokemon, too, if that's what you were going to ask about. Now, I'm still hungry for some honey for breakfast."

Then, Wallace immediately went to a nearby honey tree and began licking the honey.

"If that's what you think is more important," Bodem remarked. Then, he went to the honey tree beside Wallace's and began licking the honey, too. "But to be honest, it's nice that you, Dave and Mark finally got your Pokemon with you."

"Mark?" Wallace repeated. "I didn't see another Chimchar with him."

* * *

The sleeping Chimchar, Neha, finally opened her eyes, waking up from her sleep. She looked to her left, then to her right. But she saw no other Chimchar.

"Mark!?" she called out. "Where are you!? And why do you have to wake up early!?"

* * *

Rhye woke up with heavy eyes. He did not feel like getting up. But the sun was in the sky, and the sunlight was bright as if the morning wanted him to be up now.

_Wallace and the others are back, _Rhye excused in his sleepy mind. _I'm not a leader until they get ahead of us again._

Then, what Kenneth said last night went into his mind again. It made him jolt from his sleep.

_What if they're fakes? _Rhye thought. _I'll have to silently observe them. They'll have to prove themselves to be innocent by tomorrow night, or else, they really are fakes._

In spite his sleepiness, he spread his wings and took flight; he flied over the entire area of the Pokemon camp, searching for two Turtwig, two Piplup and two Chimchar. And he had to make sure that no one knew of what he was really doing.

He was over the lake when he saw a pack of trees on the other side. Then, he saw two Turtwig in front of the trees. He also saw two Piplup near the trees and a Chimchar close to them.

_It's them, _Rhye thought. _But, where's Mark's Chimchar? Or maybe Mark's snoozing and that's his Pokemon. Nevertheless..._

Then, he flew down and quietly hid behind a nearby tree. It was not near the pack of trees where the Turtwig and the other Pokemon were, but he, as a Honchkrow, could hear well.

_If you want to stay, _he said to them in his mind, _you have to get pass me, first._

* * *

**Three nights later,**

it was seven days after the transformations. It was also seven nights after the transformations. The Pokemon camp was still in Route 205, having not moved at all since the journey to Eterna City.

Under the dark sky, the moon, and the stars, there was a campfire. Logs surrounded the campfire. Ledas' newfound friends sat on the logs and on the grass; her friends were talking with each other, eating the skewered berries, and just waiting for 'campfire time' to begin. Ledas looked at the fire with interest. Mackie was behind her, watching her get nearer to the fire very slowly.

"Be careful, Ledas," Mackie warned. "The fire might melt you."

"I don't think so!" Ledas replied with a laugh.

"We're going to do this again?" Ledas heard Rhye speak.

She looked back quickly and she saw Rhye talking to Wallace.

"Yes, Rhye," Wallace replied. "It took me two days to think about it, since one disadvantage of having this everyday is that we might use up all the berries in Eterna Forest. But, I decided that it was OK as long as we do this once in a while."

Rhye remained silent.

"I'll take that as a 'Yes.'"

Then, Wallace walked towards the campfire.

"So, what are we going to have tonight, Wallace?" Mackie asked.

"I think 'transformation testimonies' will be here," Wallace replied. "Of course, we're not doing this just to hear stories. I want them to be confident in this camp. I want to show them that they can talk about almost anything in the camp, especially on topics on being a Pokemon and on getting back to being a human. We'll also have the massive party after that."

"It will be like last time?" Ledas asked.

"Yes, Ledas. The only two things different here are that there will be different Pokemon for the 'testimonies.' The other thing that will be different is that Dave and Aigua will announce something before anything else can begin."

"What's that?" Ledas asked curiously.

"The next big move."


	37. Movement

**Chapter 36**

**Movement**

_"Giving is true having." ~ Charles Spurgeon_

* * *

"Next big move?" Ledas repeated. "You'll be moving?"

"Yes, Ledas," Wallace replied. "Tomorrow, we'll be moving to Celestic Town. We'll be closer to Hearthome City that way, and we plan to battle the gym leader over there."

"And when we get the Hearthome Gym Badge," Mackie began, "we will only need five more gym badges to participate in the Pokemon League Tournament!"

"You still want those badges?" Ledas asked. "You're Pokemon, not humans. How can you be a Pokemon Trainer if you're a Pokemon?"

"The gym leaders and even the Elite Four are Pokemon, now," Wallace reasoned. "We can battle them as Pokemon and the first two gym leaders we faced were OK with it."

"But, this is different," Ledas replied. "Have you ever heard of Pokemon battling each other until they're faint just to get medals? If it was the humans wanting to get the badges, I would be glad to help my loving trainer. But if it's the Pokemon wanting to do that—I don't know; it just doesn't sound right to me."

"Aw, you'll understand as time goes on, Leds!" Mackie stated.

The Glaceon glared at Mackie. "Don't call me 'Leds' ever again," Ledas said as she stared at Mackie with a mean look.

"O-OK, alright!" Mackie panicked, scared by Ledas's glare. He flew away from Ledas to a far log.

"You don't like nicknames, do you, Ledas?" Wallace queried.

"Nope," Ledas replied, " I don't."

"So...let's discuss the situation later, shall we?" Wallace asked. "It's good for nighttime occasions to start early, at least that's what I think."

"Well, you're one of the leaders, Wallace," Ledas expressed. "Do what you think is best."

* * *

"What are you listening to anyway?" a Typhlosion wearing a pink bow on her ear asked the nodding Dratini beside her. "It sounds very loud."

"It's rock music, ma'am," the Dratini replied kindly.

The Typhlosion continued to sit on her log as she looked at the Dratini nodded to the beat of the music played from the Poketch strapped on her back.

"Let her enjoy her music, Ember," another Typhlosion sitting beside her said. This Typhlosion wore a black fedora on his head. "I know it may be annoying to us, but let her listen to what she wants."

"OK, Cameron," Ember replied.

"Everyone, it's that time again!" A voice announced. The Dratini and the two Typhlosion turned to the source of the voice, and it turned out to be Mark's voice.

"Before we begin, Wallace told me to announce this news to you—spread it to the others; it's big news: Prepare to pack up tomorrow morning because we'll start moving to Celestic Town around tomorrow night, if not tomorrow afternoon."

"Wait, tomorrow?" Rhye asked curiously from his place.

"I said so," Mark answered; "I thought Honchkrow had clear insight!"

After the words came out of Mark's mouth, some Pokemon clearly laughed at the joke, while others just held a small chuckle, since they knew how ruthless Rhye could become.

"Don't get at me, Rhye!" Mark quickly told. "It's just a joke. But, let's save the laughs for much later, because it's bonding time...if that's what you Pokemon call it."

"I don't think this is bonding time," Frank spoke up as he raised his hand in objection. "We're just hearing the stories of other former humans like us, and when we do say something, we only say questions. What about a regular chat with each other for a while before we listen to the stories?"

"Hmm..." Mark uttered. He suddenly faced Wallace. "Hey Wallace! What do you say about that?"

"If they want to know each other better, then let them know each other better," Wallace responded.

"Wallace has spoken, guys!" Mark announced. "It's time to have some warm-up time with each other before you get to listen to tonight's stories." Then, he went to a log, and the talking started.

* * *

Ember looked around and saw that some Pokemon started talking right away. Some others got skewers and berries to roast over the campfire, while others more just began resting to pass the time. She looked at Cameron, and he quickly grabbed a skewer and a handful of berries.

"Wanna come with me, Ember?" Cameron quickly asked. "I know you like berry kabobs!"

"I'll catch up with you later, Cameron," Ember replied.

"Well, don't forget me, Ember!" Cameron said as he ran to the campfire.

In spite of the warming sight of Cameron, her very trainer, slowly roasting the berries over the campfire, she could not get off her mind was the loud music that she could hear from the Dratini's Poketch.

Ember turned to the Dratini. "May I at least know your name, miss?" Ember asked the bobbing Dratini. "And may you please lower down your music?"

"If you insist, Ember, my full human name is Gabi Kurashiki," the Dratini replied over, "but you can call me Gabi. And, OK, I will lower the music."

Then, she moved her lower body and touched a button on her Poketch. Instantly, the rock music quieted.

"Thank you, Gabi," Ember responded. "Gabi, you name sounds very...human, Then again, I'm not the human who got changed into a Typhlosion. The one beside me is."

"And who would that be, Ember?" Gabi asked as she stopped nodding her head to the quieted music.

"He is my trainer, Cameron," Ember answered.

"He seems like he used to be a rich trainer to me," Dratini remarked. "Was he famous before the transformations? I've never heard of him yet."

"Cameron was not always a rich and famous human," Ember told. "As a young kid, he used to live in the dirt poor area of Lilycove City back in Hoenn. As a young Cyndaquil, I lived most of my early years with no parents. Then, one rainy day, I was about to get eaten by a Mightyena when he saw the Mightyena and shooed that beast away. But he did not just leave me there; he kept me safe from that day on. Years later, he got his trainer's license and I was his first official Pokemon. Then just a year ago, he won the title of being the Pokemon Champion of the Hoenn League and every Pokemon on his team back then—including me—got into the Pokemon Hall of Fame. About two weeks ago, he traveled to this place.. Perhaps he wanted to get away from the fame that was interfering his daily life back in Hoenn, but he continued to train me, nevertheless. Before he went here, he released every other Pokemon to some sort of reserve for Pokemon. Of course, he will come back for them someday, but he did not put me into a Pokemon Reserve. I traveled with him to this region.

"Oops! I'm sorry if I spoke too much."

"It's OK, Ember," Gabi responded. "I like your story. In fact, I get to hear your trainer's story before everyone else's, but I'm all right with it; Cameron will say his part of the story, anyway."

"Oh, Cameron," Ember remarked. "He is still getting used to his new life as a Typhlosion. He even stumbles at times, even when he walks on two legs. But, he still is the trainer I love—I mean, the trainer that is my best friend."

"Are you in love with your trainer?" Gabi asked curiously.

"Oh, no, I'm not!" Ember quickly retorted with a blush. "In a sense, I love him as a best friend, but he is not my boyfriend!"

"Maybe you need to be careful around your trainer, then, Ember," Gabi advised. "Since he is a Typhlosion like and you, and perhaps around the same age as yours, I think you already fell in love with him."

"No, I didn't!" Ember rejected. "I just mistake him for another Typhlosion, sometimes."

"I hope it's that way, Ember."

"Yes, Gabi, it's that way. I mean, why would a Pokemon fall in love with her trainer? It sounds very wrong!"

* * *

Rhye silently stayed on his log as he observed what was going on around him. He saw some Pokemon near the campfire while they roasted and ate the skewered berries, but he was not angry. He saw other Pokemon talking to each other on wherever they were sitting on—or standing on—but he did not want to talk with them. He could close his eyes and sleep for a while, but he chose to keep them open.

Then, he saw a Piplup, a Chimchar, and a Turtwig coming towards him.

"Good evening, Rhye!" the three Pokemon greeted simultaneously.

"So you're the leaders' Pokemon?" Rhye asked.

"Of course, we are!" Neha answered impatiently. "Who do you think we are, clones?"

"It's because when I first saw you days ago," Rhye began, "I thought you were imposters, criminals, or even spies from Team Galactic. So, I had to watch all of you silently as the days went by, but by last night, I made up my mind: You were not."

"Why did you think we were criminals?" Aigua asked angrily.

"Hey, calm down, Aigua," Bodem told. "You might make him mad at us, and Honchkrow are known to have no mercy on those they attack."

"Still, why does he—" Neha began.

"Be silent!" Rhye ordered sternly.

Immediately, the three Pokemon in front of him stopped talking and started looking at him with fear.

"You know the Nuzleaf, Kenneth, right?" Rhye asked.

"Yes, we know him," Bodem answered.

"And, did he—"

"OK, prepare to listen to some stories, Pokemon!" Mark announced.

"Honestly, the campfire time is starting to be like a cheesy plaza," Rhye remarked. "It's best that we talk about Kenneth later; go to your trainers, now."

* * *

The sleeping Pokemon awoke from their light sleep. The talking Pokemon hushed and quieted themselves. The Pokemon eating the skewered berries withheld from eating for a while.

Some Pokemon on the grass got to any log they could sit on, while others stayed on the grass.

Every Pokemon looked at Mark.

"So, who would be the first one to tell his or her story tonight?" Mark asked. He looked at the log where a Typhlosion and a Dratini were sitting on. "Where's the Cameron guy?"

"Over here!" Cameron yelled from his place.

Mark turned around, and he saw Cameron still chewing on a roasted berry.

"That would make Gabi, the Dratini, the first one to tell her story in front of us!"

"Wait, me?" Gabi asked loudly from her place.

"Yes, you, Gabi!" Mark answered happily.

Gabi remained quiet.

"OK, I will tell my tale," Gabi responded.

She slithered from the log to the grass near the campfire. She was beside Mark. She looked at Mark, and Mark looked back at her.

"Go on, Gabi," Mark said kindly. "Tell them your story. It's a nice icebreaker for everybody."

"I will, Mark," Gabi answered. "But, sorry if I offend you but, you are too close to me."

"Oh, I'm sorry," Mark apologized speedily as he ran towards a log.

Gabi remained silent for a while. The eyes of every Pokemon in the place looked at her. The Pokemon near the campfire looked at her. Even Cameron looked on as he took another roasted berry from his skewer to his mouth. She seemed paralyzed by the eyes at first, then, she took a deep breath.

"My full name is Gabi Kurashiki, but you can call me Gabi if you want. By the time that I and almost everyone else on Earth got transformed into Pokemon, my parents had been dead for about twelve years already. I was living with my foster parent, Tenmyouji and another orphan, Quark, back in Eterna City. When I woke up in the morning that we all got transformed, I screamed when I realized that I had no arms and no legs. Then, it hit me: I was a Dratini, a Pokemon. It didn't take me long to find Quark; I realized that he got transformed into a Gible. After the early hassle, we thought of what happened to Tenmyouji. We went to his room, and he was transformed into a Weavile. Then, together, we figured out that almost every human on the planet got transformed into a Pokemon. Back there, I thought about my career as a Pokemon coordinator. What would happen to my Pokemon, especially my Dragonair, when they realize that I was then—and of course, now—a Dratini, a Pokemon?

"Then, after the shock we had, I cried for a few minutes, thinking that because I was a Pokemon now, how would I let my Pokemon show their beauty in Pokemon Contests. It was as if I lost something that was dear to me. Then, Quark comforted me by bringing me to my senses; he told me that if my Pokemon truly loved me, then surely, they will not abandon me even if I was not a human anymore. That comforted me a little, but it took me the entire day and night for me to think about it. During that time, I also started getting used to my new life as a Dratini, having to make do without arms and legs and having to slither like a Seviper just to move from one place to another. I never got to learn how to use attacks on that day, though. On the second day, I made my choice to let all of my Pokemon there out of their Poke Balls. Of course, it seemed like most of them got surprised that their trainer was a Dratini. I and Quark had to explain to them what happened the day before.

"Amazingly, all of them not only accepted what we said as fact, but they still loved me for who I am, not just what I am." Then, a tear fell from her eye. "That touched me very much. After that moment on, they hung out with me as if I was their best Pokemon friend. They told me stuff a Pokemon coordinator like me would have never known, and they even taught me how to defend myself as a Dratini using Pokemon techniques. Then, days later, we were resting for the night when we heard a large group coming into the city, and it turned out to be your camp. I wanted to see what it was about, and, by today, I joined your camp with my Pokemon and Quark, but Tenmyouji chose to stay in his house. He told me he had matters to attend to, even though he was a Pokemon already.

"That brings us to tonight, and now I'm here. Thank you for listening to my story."

Then, Gabi quickly slithered her way back to her log.

"That took...less time than expected," Mark commented. "I did not expect your story to be that short, Gabi."

"Maybe it's how I say it that makes it short, Mark," Gabi responded.

"Well, thank you very much for your story, anyway," Mark expressed. "For tonight's second and last true-to-life story, may I call on Cameron and his Pokemon, Ember!"

Cameron immediately looked up from his place as he chewed on another roasted berry. He turned to his Thyphlosion, Ember, sitting on a log.

"Hey, Ember!" Cameron shouted. "It's our turn to tell our story!"

"You don't need to tell me that, Cameron!" Ember yelled back kindly. "Besides, everyone heard the call, didn't they?"

"Just get here, Ember!" Cameron replied loudly.

Then, Ember rose from her log and ran on all fours to her trainer.

"So," Mark began, "let me see if I got it right: The one with the fancy hat is Cameron and the one with the pink bow is Ember, am I right?"

"'Cameron' is a man's name," Cameron replied, "and a male Typhlosion would not want a pink bow on his head, so, what do you think?"

A lot of Pokemon laughed at Cameron's witty response.

"I'm sorry, Mark, but my trainer can crack up a joke at times," Ember explained. "He really wants to lighten up the atmosphere around him when it needs to be."

"I see that very clearly, Ember," Mark remarked. "Now, Cameron, will you please begin telling your story, since you are the former human of the duo, after all?"

"Of course," Cameron replied. "I do hope everyone is listening, though, but I will start, anyway. Let's start on the morning of the transformations..."

Ember slowly put her paw around her trainer's neck as he began telling the Pokemon their story.

* * *

**Six mornings ago,**

Cameron heard the sound of beeping. He slowly opened his eyes and he saw the sunlight that penetrated the two windows in his bedroom. He felt unusually hot, but he did not feel any sweat. He looked at his alarm clock. It was seven thirty-five in the morning and the clock was beeping.

"Let me snooze for a few minutes," Cameron mumbled to the clock as he sleepily placed his hand on the clock. The clock fell down because of his hand and it finally stopped beeping. But when he looked at his hand, it did not look like a hand at all. He instantly got energized from the sight of it.

"Wait, what happened to my hand?" Cameron asked very quickly. "What happened to me?"

He sat up on his bed, with his blanket still covering most of his body. Slowly, he examined his "hand," which was not a human hand at all. Instead, his "hand" had four short stubs; it was covered with a shade a cream.

_Hold on, this hand looks very familiar, _Cameron thought.

He speedily removed the blanket covering most of his body. Then, he looked down. He saw that most of his front body was of a shade of cream, and that it felt bulkier than his human body. His legs were very short and bulky and his feet were thinner than the human feet he was used to; his feet also had only three long digits.

_Typhlosion? _Cameron guessed in his mind.

He got off from his bed, but when he stood up on his short legs, he clearly felt that he shrunk from his usual human height.

_I need to get some cold water on my face or something, _Cameron thought in his mind. _This feels too real for a dream._

Then, he clumsily walked on his two legs, wobbling on some steps. Soon enough, he was in front of his own bedroom door.

"Let's see if Typhlosion can open doors," Cameron said to himself.

He put his "hand" on the top of the door knob. He struggled to hold on to it with a firm grip. Then, he carefully turned the knob clockwise. The door knob clicked, and the door opened.

"Looks like they can," Cameron expressed with a grin.

He started walking on his two feet again, going through the small and humble dining room, with the bathroom door not far from him.

Then, he stumbled and fell clumsily on the floor. The thud sounded quieter than he thought. The pain did surge through most of his body but he felt less pain than he expected. In fact, he was surprised that he did not feel the urge to even say "Ouch!"

_Must it be the fur, _Cameron contemplated quickly, _or is it like this for almost every Pokemon?_

He went back up on his two feet. He was now certain that he was a Typhlosion, but in his mind, even if it was a dream, he wanted to see himself as a Typhlosion with his eyes, not just with his thoughts. And in his mind, he intended to splash his face with water, to make himself sure if it was either a dream or not.

So, on his two feet, he began walking again towards the bathroom door. Using his paws, he then turned the door knob and the bathroom door opened.

The bathroom seemed very small compared to the rest of the rooms in the house. The walls, the floor, and the ceiling were white. Immediately in front of him was a sink and a mirror. Despite being shorter than his human height, he still saw a part of himself on the mirror.

The mirror confirmed what he thought in his mind all along: He was not just any Pokemon, he was a Typhlosion. He struggled to stretch his short arm to touch the surface of the mirror. After seconds of trying, he drew back his arm. He now knew with no doubt that he was a Typhlosion.

Then, he looked at the sink and its faucet. _It's time to wake up, _Cameron thought to himself.

He walked nearer to the sink and stretched his arm to turn the knob of the faucet. Water began gushing from the faucet. Then, Cameron looked at both of his paws.

_Here goes nothing._

Suddenly, he put both of his paws into the small yet rigorous stream of water, and speedily covered his face with his paws, letting much of the cold water touch and splash his face.

Slowly, Cameron removed his paws from his face. He opened his eyes. He was not lying on the bed. Instead, he still saw the sink and the mirror in the bathroom.

"This is not a dream?" Cameron said to himself, bewildered at the surprise. "If this is not a dream, then...how can it be?"

He looked at his hands, but they were not the human hands he expected to see. Instead, they were the paws of a Typhlosion. He quickly looked down, and he saw that his body was not human either; it was a body of a Typhlosion.

"I'm a Pokemon!?" Cameron exclaimed. "This can't be possible! How did this happen? What would Ember say when she realizes that I'm a Pokemon?"

"Cameron!" he heard a female voice shout. "Where are you Cameron?"

_Hey, I did not allow anyone else in the house, _Cameron thought in his mind. _It does not sound like Mom's voice. I hope it's not some crazy fangirl._

"Cameron!" the voice continued loudly. "May you please fix your broken alarm clock? I found it on the floor."

_Wait, how did she know about the alarm clock? Did she invade my bedroom? Oh great, I hope it's not a fanatic girl. She might tear me to pieces if she just sees me._

"And are we going to have berry kabobs for breakfast, Cameron?" the voice continued still, sounding closer to Cameron than before.

_Berry kabobs...only a Pokemon would have berries for breakfast. Why would she ask me for berry kabobs? Unless...ah, they would only ask if she was a Pokemon also. Wait a minute, I understand Pokemon language now? That means I can understand Ember when she speaks to—Ember! I think Ember's the one who is calling me! Oh no, what if she sees me like this? Would she even recognize me as her trainer?_

Then, he swiftly closed the bathroom door behind him and locked it. Safe in the bathroom was Cameron.

"Cameron!" Ember's voice he still heard. "Are you playing hide-and-seek with me?"

_I can't leave her searching for me like this, _Cameron reasoned in his mind. _She might think I'm not here anymore. That might hurt her a lot. However, what if she gets hurt when she sees that I'm a Typhlosion? This never happened before. But, I'll let her know that she's not alone, even though I'm a Typhlosion._

Courageously, he turned the door knob. Then, he slightly opened the door.

"Who's there?" he heard Ember aske in surprise. "Cameron?"

"Yes, it's me, Ember," Cameron replied, though he still could not see Ember.

"Oh, finally; I thought it would take hours for me to find you," Ember expressed. "Why were you using the bathroom, Cameron? Oops, sorry, you don't understand Poke-speech; sorry there, Cameron."

"Don't worry, Ember," Cameron responded; "I clearly understand you now."

"What!?" Ember exclaimed in astonishment. "What happened to you? Did you eat some mysterious berry that made you understand me?"

"I did not eat some magical berry, Ember. Just get in the bathroom and you'll see how I understand you. In fact, I'm still surprised at it, too."

"Is it scary?" Ember asked.

"It's not scary, but it's a surprise."

Then, Cameron fully opened the door. He saw a Typhlosion with a pink bow. Her face was that of obvious shock and surprise. _Yes, that's Ember indeed._

But he did not see her as just any Typhlosion or just that Typhlosion that had been with him for more than ten years. It was as if the beauty of Ember, his very own Pokemon, was multiplied and intensified in his sight. She was not just his own Typhlosion anymore; her mind made her seem even lovely to him.

_"_Cameron?" Ember asked haltingly as she slowly pointed her paw at him, waking her trainer from his daze. "Is that...really you?"

"I-It's Cameron in the flesh," he responded. "Uh, _Pokemon _flesh, to be exact."

"But, how?"

"I don't know, too, Ember," Cameron answered. "I don't know why it has to be me to get transformed. I did not even know it was possible. But I made myself sure whether it was a dream or not, and it was not a dream. It may be hard to believe, Ember, but I'm really a Typhlosion now. I do have to get used to being one, though. Do you still accept me as your trainer and...even best friend, although I'm not a human anymore?"

"Of course, Cameron!" Ember responded happily. "Just imagine the things we can do together now that you are a Pokemon! But, are you going to stay like that for the rest of your life?"

"Ember, I'm not sure about that one. But, if I stay like this long enough to learn how to at least get through life as a Pokemon, then I'm OK with it."

"But, what about your training?" Ember asked with concern.

"My training!" Cameron repeated as he fully realized something sober. "How will the Pokemon League allow a Pokemon to train other Pokemon?"

"Even if the Pokemon League rejects you, Cameron," Ember smoothly began, "even if they strip of you your responsibility as a Pokemon trainer, we will still be the best of friends, Cameron."

"Uhh, that sounds a little romantic, Ember," Cameron noted. "Is that how you talked to me when I was still a human?"

"Romantic?" Ember repeated. "Perhaps it's because Poke-speech is somewhat different than what you think. I mean, I love you as I love my trainer; I don't love you as my boyfriend!"

"Ember, you don't need to explain yourself so much," Cameron told. _Could it be that she loves me? Nah, maybe it's just Pokemon instincts. She knows how to handle herself better._

"Oooh! I got a brilliant idea!" Ember exclaimed.

"What is it?"

"What if I teach you the Typhlosion lifestyle?" Ember suggested. "You've brought me up really well since the day I was your Pokemon and I thank you for that, but there were times when I looked for ways to really show my thanks to you. It's as if you were transformed into a Typhlosion so I had the perfect opportunity to truly thank you."

"And you're going to truly thank me by helping me learn how to live as a Typhlosion?" Cameron queried.

"Exactly!" Ember replied. "But honestly, I admit it would sound very strange to the both of us. It's as if I have become the trainer while you have become the Pokemon. However, instead of training you to become a better fighter, I have to tell you and help you how to live the normal life of a Pokemon. It may be hard for both of us, but you have to survive as a Pokemon, and not just live."

"I think I have some of that experience of survival," Cameron responded, "since I used to be a street boy."

"Yeah, rags-to-riches stuff helps you later in life, I guess," Ember expressed. "But, being a street boy is not the same as being a Typhlosion, Cameron."

"I know what you mean. When do we start my 'training,' so to speak?"

"If you want, we can start right now!"

"Wait, really?" Cameron asked.

"Oh, yes really! To be honest, it's going to be weird for us to—"

"I understand, Ember, it's going to be a weird and strange experience for us at first, but we'll get used to it. And don't ask what will happen if someone tries to capture me in a Poke Ball. Rest assured, I won't get caught by any human."

"That's my trainer!"

As they walked together towards the door to the outside, Cameron continued to comprehend in his mind the whole experience so far. _Am I the only one like this? Will I get back to a human life? This is too much for me for one morning. __Will my parents even accept me if they see me like this?_

Then, they were in front of the door. Ember reached out her hand towards the door knob when she was interrupted by a touch on her short arm. She turned to Cameron.

"Let me do it, Ember," Cameron said politely.

"Since when did you become so chivalrous to me, Cameron?" Ember asked in surprisal.

"I just felt like doing it," Cameron answered. "Perhaps I did it out of respect of you."

"You're acting really unusual since you became a Typhlosion, Cameron," Ember remarked. "But then again, it could be that you're not that used to your Pokemon senses. Just let me open the door; it doesn't matter who opens it anyway."

"OK..." Cameron replied quickly.

Ember reached out to the door knob again. She grabbed hold of it, turned it, and swung the door open.

The surroundings in front of them was a peaceful sight, as if it was a rural sight, with Eterna Forest not too far away. Some roads were on the ground, giving the area the appearnce of a small suburb. Grass covered most of the yards of the houses. A tall yet strange-looking buildings was part of the suburb.

Cameron quickly took steps away from the house, and he looked behind him. The environment behind him seemed to be a partial contrast to what was in front of him. The buildings appeared to gradually grow the further they were, yet they were not skyscrapers. The buildings were clean, and it rather seemed to be just a taller suburb. In the array of buildings, he saw the Eterna City Gym.

Then, he looked at the grass below. He saw his paws. He looked intently at his paws.

He looked up and saw the suburbian environment in front of him. On the yards, on the sidewalks, and even on few of the roads were Pokemon. _But wait...I don't see any human. That's strange._

"Cameron!" Ember yelled, bringing Cameron out of his deep thinking. "There's a letter over here!"

Cameron looked at Ember. She held the letter with her paw. "Did you read it, yet?"

"I'll just read it to you," Ember replied. "Thanks to what you did for me over the years, I can understand complex human English. Maybe over the days, you'll truly see how much you impacted my life, since you're a Typhlosion who can understand me now."

"Looks like I'll have to expect a lot of thanks from you," Cameron expressed, "which is a good thing. With that aside, what does the letter say?'

"Well, Cameron, it reads: 'Dear recepient, if you have not noticed already, you are a Pokemon. But, what you may have not noticed is that over ninety-nine percent of the world's human population are now a Pokemon, too; this also states that a very small minority of humans are still a human at this hour. In spite of the alarming nature of the news, please do not panic; act as model citizens despite the clear fact that you are now a Pokemon. Governmental help will come properly to you as soon as possible when the need arises, but it is advised that your very own Pokemon or other Pokemon help you, as it is very likely that you will understand them since you are also a Pokemon. There will be no other official act on this unexpected worldwide event until further notice. From, the mayor of Eterna City.'"

"That means I'm not the only one who got transformed into a Pokemon?" Cameron asked. "It could be a trick letter."

"It's signed by the mayor himself, so this can't be a trick," Ember noted. "And, if this letter is not a trick, than what the letter is saying is true."

"And that means that almost every human on the planet is now a Pokemon..." Cameron concluded. "That sort of explains why I saw no human anywhere when we went outside."

"That makes the letter all the more true," Ember stated.

Cameron kept quiet, grasping the truth in his head.

"Oh man," he expressed, "this is going to be_ some _day today..."

* * *

**Tonight,**

Cameron yawned in front of the watching Pokemon. "I think we can say more of our story tomorrow or the day after that," he announced. "I feel very sleepy."

"But it's only, like, eight o' clock in the evening!" Catherine shouted from her place. But as soon as she said those words, Anne, who was beside her, shushed her.

"Perhaps Typhlosion sleep earlier than a lot of other Pokemon," Ember stated. "Wallace, may we go sleep, now? We don't feel like staying up all night."

"It's up to you," Wallace told them as he walked towards them. "If you want to stay, then stay. If you want to sleep, then sleep. We're not forcing anyone."

"Gee, thanks," Cameron replied. "We'll see you tomorrow when we move?"

"Yes, you will," Wallace assured.

Then, the two Typhlosion left the campfire site, waving their hands for a while before they were far off.

"OK," Wallace declared to the rest of the Pokemon in the campfire site, "before we enjoy ourselves, remember: Start packing up the things you need either after the campfire time—you will still be wide awake by that time, that is—or tomorrow morning. I repeat, we'll be moving to Celstic Town by tomorrow afternoon or tomorrow night, whichever one we'll be prepared for."

"Will there be berries in Celestic Town?" Mark asked.

Wallace looked at Mark, and he, with a few others, were near the campfire and were still eating the berries.

"Of course there will be berries, Mark. And, to everyone else, with no further wait, enjoy!"


	38. Ragtag Collective

**Author's Notes: **

Original Character forms are still accepted. However, I will now be focusing more of my writing efforts on my other story, "Dependence: Afflictions." It's about time Eli and his situation get going once again. So, do not expect any new chapters for this story for a few months or so, at worst, three-fourths of a year. If you want, you can submit your original character forms there, albeit a little modified to suit the story.

Enjoy and read on...

* * *

**Chapter 37**

**Ragtag Collective**

_"Contentment means my happiness is not dependent on my circumstances." ~ Pastor Bong Saquing_

* * *

"Cameron..." he heard. The voice was like Ember's—he was sure of himself that it was Ember's voice—but it sounded different at the same time. It was as if the call sounded more than friendly. He could not describe such a sound without fumbling the words in his mind.

Immediately, Cameron got up, albeit a little shocked because he saw it was bright already. The sun was already rising slowly behind the faraway Mount Coronet in the horizon.

He looked at Ember, who was still sleeping beside him on the grass. _Could she be dreaming about me? _He thought to himself. _If she is, she sounds romantic. Is she dating me in her dream? _

He stopped his thoughts there. The very thoughts of a trainer and his Pokemon dating just because they are now both Pokemon—let alone him and Ember dating—were the thoughts he did not want to think of. If he was still a human, he was now eligible to marry. But he was a Pokemon now. He did not want to dwell on such romantic thoughts with Ember.

"It's just my Pokemon instincts, Cameron," he said to himself, "it's just my Pokemon instincts. You're not really in love with your own Pokemon, it's just the instincts." Then, with a grumbling stomach, he went to the forest to get some berries.

* * *

"There; there's my move!" the Krokorok announced to the observing Dratini behind the other side of the wooden chess board.

The Krokorok and the Dratini were playing a chess game behind a few tall trees. The box for the game was nearby. The chess game itself was in its open game stage. Only two pawns—one black, one white—were away from their starting squares; they were also both two spaces from their beginning positions. A white bishop occupied the starting place of the friendly pawn that moved. It was now black's turn to move.

"Do you remember that this is a thinking game with the head and not the mouth?" Gabi asked rhetorically from her side of the chess board. Then, she touched the black pawn that was in front of her queen and carefully moved it a space forward with her large nose.

"Of course, I know that," the Krokorok answered back with crossed arms. "I may not be a professional at this, but at least I'm experienced enough to rack myself up some good wins. The thing is, I'm still not really used to being a Pokemon and that doesn't do me good in thinking games like this."

"Getting over it quickly is one way to counter that feeling," Gabi suggested. "It is now your turn to move. And please be quiet for the rest of the game, Edmund."

The Krokorok looked at the board and observed how the game went so far. He could not tell if he had the advantage or not. _Why should I think about that now? _Edmund thought._ Argh, why is chess more important than trying to get used to this new body?_

As he thought about which piece to move—with Gabi watching the thinking Krokorok—they heard a shout.

"Everyone!" they heard. It was Dave's voice. "Everyone! Get up and get over here; we have an announcement for every Pokemon in the camp!"

Edmund took a quick glance at the chess board, at the unfinished game. Then, he looked to the patches of grass both tall and short, with various Pokemon walking through and on them. "We don't even have time to play a quick game of checkers; why play chess anyway?" he argued as he stood up and packed up the pieces and the board into the box.

"Pardon?" Gabi asked as she helped the Krokorok by using her nose to move the pieces closer to him.

"I said," Edmund began,"if we don't have time to play a quick game of checkers nowadays, why play chess anyway?"

"I had hoped that we would have time to play even one game of chess," Gabi said, sidetracking the question. "We had so much time working, I wanted to make useful the free time that I have."

"Then why not play rock-paper-scissors since the free time we have—"

"Gabi!" they both heard. They were surprised, and they turned around to see a Gible behind them.

"I presume he's the other orphan that you talked about," Edmund assumed quietly, but Gabi ignored him for the while.

"Quark, aren't you supposed to be with the rest of them?" Gabi reprimanded mellowly.

"Aren't you supposed to be with them, also?" Quark answered back with a slightly worried face.

"We're just packing up, Quark," Gabi replied. "You go already. We'll catch up soon."

"OK, Gabi!" Quark said happily. "Just don't be late!" Then, he ran away from them and towards to wherever they were called to gather.

"Does your brother suffer some disorder with mood swings?" Edmund asked curiously.

"No," Gabi answered; "he is just one of the humans who don't really seem to fit nicely with the attitude of the Pokemon they changed into. Let's just get faster; I don't want to upset Quark." _"Humans." Why do I feel awkward now when I say that word?_

"He's around your age; he can take care of himself, can't he?"

"I sort of told you already, he doesn't seem to get used to being such a happy Pokemon, or even such a childish Pokemon." She pushed another chess piece towards Edmund. "Plus, Gible are unevolved Pokemon, and many Pokemon who haven't evolved yet tend to act childish. As a human, he used to be OK being alone as long as he did not try to run away from me and Tenmyouji, but now, he can only go less than a hundred meters before he starts worrying because he doesn't know how to defend himself as a Pokemon." She pushed the last remaining chess piece to the Krokorok. "At least not yet."

Edmund picked the last piece up and put it in the box, along with the folded chess board. "Do I really have to carry this all the way to your place?"

"Yes, Edmund, you have to," Gabi answered. "If we just leave it on the ground, a thieving Pokemon might steal it. The camp may have its watchmen, but—"

"You mean 'Watch-Pokemon'?" he asked jokingly.

"You know what I mean by 'watchmen,'" she returned. "This camp has its watchmen, but it has no walls."

Edmund then carried the box that contained the chess board and its pieces. "Then I have to bring this to your place, right?"

Gabi nodded. "Just get back around here fast."

* * *

A lot of Pokemon were in and around the site of the camp fire, chattering to each other and making a loud noise. On the center was a handful of charred wood and a pile of ashes but no fire. The logs placed horizontally on the ground and surrounding the center were still there. Some Pokemon sat on the logs. Many others sat on the grass or leaned on the lower trunks of the tall trees around the site. Near the charred wood and ashes were Dave and Mark, with Wallace close by. Their friends, the "co-leaders" and the "assistants,"—yet all of them friends since years or even a decade ago—were part of the crowd, but clearly nearer to the center. Others who they met along the way and in campfire times―like Catherine, Anne, Rhye, Ledas, Cameron and Gabi—were also in the crowd but scattered here and there. The trio's Pokemon were beside them, outside the crowd.

"Everyone!" Dave shouted above the noise of the crowd. He waved both his hands as a gesture telling them to be quiet. He was holding a paper with his two hands. "Everyone, quiet down!"

In seconds, the crowd quieted down to almost a full silence.

"Hey," a Mothim yelled from his place in the crowd, "is it about the big move?"

"He,he..." Dave laughed sheepishly. "Not really. You see, I got reports from some here that their respective items could not be found. It is suspected that they are either lost or stolen. So, if you happen to have the following and they are not yours, please come over here:"

He put the paper on one of his fins and read out loud from it.

"A box of towels and brushes."

No one came near.

"Cans full of Pokeblocks and candy."

Not a single Pokemon came near.

"Three packs of potions and elixirs. Wallets and containers of dollars. Two bags of who knows what's inside. Jars of honey. A handful of toothbrushes."

Yet, no Pokemon came forward.

Dave looked around him, for any Pokemon coming forward, or even a raise of hands or whatever limbs they could raise up. "Honestly, no one has any of the listed items?"

"What if someone _did _steal something," Mark suggested, "but they don't want to come here? Not everyone here is an honest Pokemon."

"You're...right," Dave replied. "Why didn't I think of that?

"Well, Mark's right. Unfortunately, we can't just search everybody out; we have almost a hundred Pokemon here, counting us, that is. Since it's also possible that Pokemon outside the camp may have stolen the items—and it's now clear that no one just misplaced their stuff—I ask every camp guardian to search out the surrounding area for any of the items or the Pokemon who may have stolen them. However, there is also the possibility that the thieves could be anyone of us in the camp. So, we'll questioned all the Pokemon that seem to be suspects."

"What about the big move to Celestic Town?" Wallace asked.

"Everyone else that won't be questioned should starting packing up quickly for the move to Celestic Town," Dave answered. "Rhye will be the one to lead you to Celestic Town."

In spite of Dave's gesture towards Rhye, the Honchkrow did not seem to respond.

"So...I bet that you had your breakfast berries now, because if you don't, you have to now; it's a long journey to Celestic Town. If you want to go back to Eterna City, then it's OK. We enjoyed your being here."

A few Pokemon went away from the crowd, heading back to Eterna City. Some of them said their goodbyes and farewells, while others just left without saying their thanks.

"That's it?" Dave wondered out loud. "If that's so, then every Pokemon here is now dismissed; start packing your things. Camp guardians, start checking the area around here for the missing items and maybe even the Pokemon who stole them. We'll question the Pokemon we suspect are one of the criminals of this act; Mackie will be the one to lead the questioning."

"You can count on me!" Mackie said gladly, then he flew and went away from the crowd.

Then, all the other Pokemon began to go towards their tents and their places in the camp, supposedly to put their things into their bags and containers to prepare for the move or to eat their breakfast first. The only Pokemon left were the leaders, their Pokemon, the "co-leaders," and Nicolas. Not even Anne, Catherine and the others they met along the way were there.

"Can you do that again!?" Neha asked cheerily to her trainer.

"Uh, what do you mean?" Mark asked back, embarrassed.

"You can gather so many Pokemon with your voice!" Neha stated.

"Wait 'till his sniffing gathers many more to him," William joked. A few laughed, even William himself, but most did not even fully understand the joke.

"You dare tease my trainer!?" Neha shouted at the laughing Mudkip.

"Oh, uh..." William fumbled with his words in fear.

Then, Neha's body became engulfed in flames and she jumped into the air and spinned.

"Oh, now you're going to get it, Willy!" Mark yelled with rage at him. His body also began being surrounded by fire.

"Wait, Mark, no!" Philipp hollered. Then, he grabbed Mark's hands as he tried to stop the angry Chimchar from exacting revenge over a little joke. Mark struggled, but the fire around him finally receded.

"What about Neha?" Frank said quickly.

Everyone left in the site saw Neha as she tried to hit the defending Mudkip, with some success.

"I'll handle her!" Clive immediately answered. He went charging at the other angry Chimchar who, still surrounded by fire, jumped into the air once more and charged towards William.

Then, William gushed out streams of water from his mouth, hitting and hurting Neha with them.

"Neha!" Mark shouted. Then, he spew bolts of fire at the restraining Philipp. The Totodile reacted in pain, and he let go of Mark's hand.

As Mark ran to Neha, William prepared to fire another stream of water at Neha. But, once he saw Mark was near his Pokemon, he stopped preparing. To him, hurting Neha again would also be hurting Mark. And he did not want to be attacked by two Fire-type Pokemon, one of them being his friend for what seemed to be ten years.

"Pokemon life is very unpredictable," Nicolas thought out loud to himself as he looked at the scene in front of him. _Then again, we're teenage former humans; we have to get used to this Pokemon living after childhood._

"Neha, are you OK?" Mark asked as she put a hand on Neha's back.

"Yes, I'm OK," she said back. "I only got hit once, you don't need to worry about it."

Immediately, Mark felt relief.

Then, he turned his face towards William. "You dare hit my Pokemon, William?"

"Uh, we can settle this peacefully, Mark!" William pleaded. "As friends, remember?"

Mark shouted loudly; then, he engulfed himself in flames in anger—and deep concern for Neha.

"No, Mark!" Wallace yelled.

Almost instantly after that, Mark looked at Wallace, and the Turtwig charged towards his own brother. He was doing it for Mark's good―and, maybe, everyone else's, too.

But the flaming Mark dodged Wallace's tackle, leaving Wallace headed towards Neha and ended up tackling her instead.

"Oh no, I'm really sorry, Neha. Really!" Wallace apologized quickly and in fear. He did not want to get beat up for tackling the wrong Pokemon.

Mark knew, even in the situation he was in now, that most, if not all, Pokemon were very sturdy creatures. But, the sight of Neha getting hit for the second time did something to him. It was not love, but more of a feeling of concern for his Pokemon. In spite of being brothers, he wanted to get back at Wallace for hurting Neha, even if it was an honest accident.

Out of what appeared to be nowhere, Mark felt shocks of electricity hit him on his side. Quickly following was the electrical tackle of Nicolas. Mark was knocked to the ground.

Most of the Pokemon present there went to the scene, even William. They went there, perhaps, to pity the Chimchar or to be there to restrain him if he attacked them once more. Despite the noise and the commotion, only the leaders and their close friends even knew about this happening.

"They'll have no idea what happened today," Nicolas remarked.

Neha yelled and Wallace was sent flying a little bit. Tody speedily rushed at her, but Neha violently scratched the Totodile with her fingers and Tody recoiled. Then, Neha felt the pain of sharp leaves.

"I thought you were our friend!" Leafy exclaimed.

But Neha did not respond with words. With no hesitation, she spew bolts of fire at the Chikorita, but Leafy screamed and quickly went to the side.

"Charge!" Neha heard Clive cry.

Neha instinctively turned around and saw Clive a little above the ground and headed towards the Chimchar. She responsively grabbed Clive at his stuck up feathers and threw him to the ground.

Then, Tody fired a stream of water at her and she fell to the ground by the great force of the water.

* * *

"Is he dead?" Peter asked worriedly.

"Of course not," Nicolas replied. "He's just going to—"

Mark speedily got up and quickly slashed Peter in front of him, fully putting the Cyndaquil to the ground.

Then, a red beam hit Mark, and a red substance like plasma surrounded Mark. The Chimchar became noticeably weaker the longer the plasma-like substance surrounded him—and it had only been a few seconds.

"Team Galactic!?" Dave shouted in surprise.

But when everyone near the Chimchar looked, they saw two Turtwig, with one releasing a red beam from the leaves on his head and at the Chimchar. As soon as everyone there was looking, the red beams disappeared.

"Go, make him faint _now_!" Bodem ordered loudly.

The Chimchar yelled angrily, and then, he harshly scratched at the attacking Aigua and the Piplup flinched. But William charged at Mark. With less energy left to him, he tried to scratch William but was too late. The Mudkip tackled him with the full force of all his moving body. Finally, Mark fell down to the ground once more—and he did not get up right after.

Then, the two Turtwig ran towards the fiery Neha. Nicolas followed the Turtwig. Those who remained near Mark just looked at Mark's body. Flame raised his head and looked at Neha and the others fighting her.

"I don't want her to hurt us, Peter," Flame trembled a little.

"They'll take care of Neha, little Flame," Peter replied gently. But, he knew that he was not little to him anymore. He was a Cyndaquil like his own Pokemon.

"OK, right now," Dave unexpectedly dictated, "we have to get Mark to a safe place now!"

The Pokemon near the faint Mark carried his body and went towards the more lively area of the camp and away from all the fighting.

* * *

"Can anyone stop this Chimchar!?" Frank complained as he focused his eyes on the incoming Neha and made his eyes glow red. Neha flinched briefly at the sight of his glowing eyes.

"What about some of this?" Mary exclaimed as she waved her head once, the flinging leaf on her head throwing purple powder at Neha, covering her with the powder.

"Poison Powder!?" Neha shouted in pain as she felt her strength slowly going away from her with each step she took. But she was determined to make not just William pay but everyone else who heard the joke—at least she wanted to make them pay before she would faint from poisoning.

Neha spat out fire from her mouth again and hurt Leafy and Treeko with the bolts of fire.

"Mary!" Leafy called out to her trainer.

Mary looked, but Neha dodged Philipp's stream of water and quickly but painfully scratched Leafy.

"How dare you!" Mary yelled angrily at her as two vines came out of some of her buds and whipped Neha with them.

Neha quickly recovered once more and surrounded herself in flames. The flaming wheel was headed Mar, who ran fast on her four feet and away from Neha.

Then, a plasma-like, red beam hit Neha and the red substance surrounded her even while in her wheel of fire.

"Wallace!" Clive shouted happily. The sight of the two Turtwig were a relief to the defending Pokemon's eyes; to them, it meant a swift end to Neha's rampage, or, at least, more Pokemon to attack and weaken her. The sight was more relieving when they saw that one of the Turtwig was releasing the red beam that surrounded Neha.

"We have to make her faint!" Wallace shouted. "There's no use trapping her awake!" He immediately withdrew the red beam.

But Neha steered herself and hit Mary, scarring her with burns just like the burns that were on William.

Nicolas quickly surrounded himself with electricity and fired a spark of electricity at Neha. She flinched at the sudden shock and angrily looked at Nicolas. She furiously ran at Nicolas. As she ran, flames rapidly surrounded her again until she was completely covered in fire.

"Yah!" Tody shouted as loud as he could while he forcibly released much water from his open mouth. The stream of water hit Neha, putting her course away from heading towards the retreating Nicolas. She tripped and went into the air, her covering wheel of fire gone. She landed on the ground with thuds, but she did not get up right away.

_That's a good one, _Philipp thought as Tody ran to him and said "Did you see that?"

"Yes," Philipp replied, "but maybe Neha is not down yet. We have to be ready for a surprise move."

Every Pokemon left there walked fast to Neha, but they did not run; after all they have been through, they knew better than to rush in blindly to a short-tempered, Fire-type Pokemon.

They were prepared when they were near the prostrate Neha. "Don't even touch her," Aigua told. But as a minute of silence passed by under the morning sunlight, Neha did not move.

Nicolas looked at his surroundings. Small patches of scorched grass were visible, but other than that, the place looked as if only a small fire was let loose and everyone was able to stop the fire before it grew. However, of course, he, those near him, and those taking care of Mark knew what really happened.

Then, he thought of it.

"I think she's already knocked out," Nicolas said.

"We already considered that," Clive replied. "Someone willing to see if she's out cold?"

Looks were exchanged, with the occasional "Me?" and "Wait, you're looking at...?"

Finally, all looks were on Philipp. "Let me guess...you chose me to do this, didn't you?"

"You're a Pokemon now, Dave," William reminded. "And you're a Water-type, remember?"

"I remember; just don't prank me."

Dave slowly stretched his flipper towards Neha's closed eyes. After a deep breath, he touched one of Neha's eyelids. No sudden opening of eyes. No hand grabbing or even choking him. No surprise attack at all.

"Yep, she's out cold," Clive confirmed. "Now, how are we going to explain this to her?"

"We don't explain it to her now," Bodem answered. "We explain it to her later, when she's back up and awake. Any volunteers who would like to carry her back to camp?"

"Only the ones who have any proper hands at all," Bodem replied.

The Turtwig was right. Not even Bodem and Wallace themselves had hands. Only Frank, Philipp and Tody had hands. Every other Pokemon walked using all their four limbs or had only two limbs to begin with or their hands were only stubs.

"Philipp, Frank," Wallace called out.

The two Pokemon looked at him. "We're going to carry her, aren't we?" Philipp guessed.

"You're really good at that sort of thing, whatever you call it," Wallace remarked. "And yes, you three carry her; follow us, OK?"

"I know how to get myself back to the camp," Philipp pointed out, "but OK; we'll follow you."

"Can I help you carry, Philipp?" Tody asked innocently.

"You don't need to, Tody," Philipp replied.

Tody nodded back.

Then, the two Pokemon carried her, with Frank carrying her head and Philipp carrying her feet. The carriers walked towards the lively of the camp as they were surrounded with the rest of the Pokemon left there with them.

* * *

"Good thing I'm not a Lugia," Mackie thought out loud to himself as he flew beside and around the many trees of Eterna Forest and as he looked for the missing items. "If I was, I couldn't even fit the ground of the forest! At least the thieves have to fear me if I was a Lugia!" He forced a laugh. Then, he mimicked loudly "I am the guardian of the seas! Return what you stole or suffer the wrath of Lugia!" He forced louder laughs out of his mouth, though none of his friends were nearby.

"Aha!" Mackie suddenly shouted. "I think I found them!"

He kept looking down and he saw a few cardboard boxes stacked here and there. He saw also a few Poochyena, two Luxray, some Dustox and even one or three baby Pokemon near the boxes. There were more, but he was flying high and fast.

"Should I warn those Pokemon?" Mackie said to himself as he flew above them. "Nah; let's surprise them." Then, he turned around and flew back to the camp.

* * *

"Make way, people!" Dave shouted as he and the others carried Mark's body. "Mark is down!"

All of the Pokemon who could see the faint Chimchar did see it. There were some gasps and some expressions of fear and surprise. To the Pokemon who did not truly know what happened, there was something going on; first, there were the missing items and now, the one of their leaders is faint. Had the robbers or even Team Galactic attacked the leaders and their friends? Fear began to seep towards some of them; will there be an end to this soon?

"What happened?" A Bonsly asked from the crowd. "Did he die?"

"He didn't die, little guy," Dave said calmly. "He just fainted, OK? Nothing a Revive can't fix."

The Bonsly had an unsure look on his face, but Dave just thought in his head that the Bonsly really understood what was happening.

"Did you catch the robbers?" a Bibarel said curiously from the crowd; her face was tainted with worry.

"We didn't fight robbers, Nina," Dave replied as he carried the unconscious Mark. Then, he looked back at the ones carrying Neha along with him. "You'll have to carry him without me for a while," Dave ordered. "I'll have to talk to them."

"Can we rest, too?" Flame whined.

"Mark is only as heavy as a really, really, really big bag of berries," Dave answered back, not minding the crowd of Pokemon watching him and especially the faint Neha. "You can carry him with just one more Pokemon; say, William."

"I don't even have hands!" William complained.

"You can carry him on your back, can't you?" Dave pointed out.

William sighed. "I guess you're right," he concluded.

Dave carefully put Mark on William's back, but Mark's head limped over his face. "I can't see a thing!" William complained some more.

"Aigua, may you please carry her head for William?" Dave requested.

"Excuse me," the same Bibarel interrupted, "but you haven't answered my question yet, Dave."

"Miss, just wait a—" Dave began.

But Aigua interrupted. "Why won't you carry it? Leaders have to do some dirty work also. _I _will be the one to talk to them; I know how to take care of their problems a little better. Besides, I'm one of the 'naturals,' and everyone knows what I mean."

Dave was silent for a while. Then, "All right, I'll carry his head," Dave settled. You can talk to them, but don't scare them unless we really have to go pack up and move quickly."

"Just go," Aigua quickly said. "We don't want any more delays, now do we?"

"OK, OK, I'll carry her!" Dave said irritatedly. Then, he got Mark's head. "Let's move her," he said to William. "Peter, Flame," Dave called out, "follow us. Aigua will be fine here."

Peter just nodded. Flame said a quiet "Yes, Dave."

As Mark's unconscious body, its carriers and the two Cyndaquil went towards a safer place, Aigua alone was faced with everyone else in the camp. Quiet talk came from the crowd, but Aigua was not scared, not now.

"Was that necessary?" a Marill questioned.

"Ahem," Aigua began haltingly, "well, I, um—I know that you want to know what just happened back there. I will tell you the entire truth and the truth might be a little scary."

Aigua stopped.

"Did a Magikarp beat you?" a Roselia asked with a smirk on her face. Some Pokemon laughed at the absurd question.

"Of course a Magikarp did not beat us!" Aigua answered back. The laughing stopped. "What I'm trying to—"

"Hey, sorry; please excuse us, Aigua!" a voice called out from behind Aigua. It was Wallace's voice.

"What is it now?" Dave asked. He turned and saw two Turtwig in front of him. Behind the two Turtwig were the others and somewhere on the line was what Aigua did not want to let the crowd see. He thought for words to say to the Turtwig but none of them came out.

"You see her now, don't you, Aigua?" Bodem said.

Aigua had a thought in his mind that wanted him to speak up and stop them from walking any further. But he had already told everyone else that he would tell the entire truth, whether it was a little scary or too terrifying. But then again—

The small parade of Pokemon continued to walk, revealing another faint Chimchar. There were gasps and sayings of surprise and fear, but there were less of them.

"You don't need to be afraid," Aigua told everyone else. "You'll most likely outnumber a small band of thief-Pokemon, so why be afraid of them?"

"So the bandits overpowered you back there?" the same Roselia asked.

"It wasn't the bandits," Aigua replied.

In his mind, he wanted to tell the entire truth straight away. But if he told the truth to them, even right now, would the trust ever be the same? Of course, would anyone trust a leadership that fights itself with no good results? Yet, there were its causes and it was not usually their nature for Mark and Neha to react violently, but still...

"I just hope you don't get scared, but..." Aigua said haltingly, "our enemies were...the two Chimchar."

Immediately, loud talk and noises sounded from the crowd. Even the small parade of Pokemon were surprised by the sudden chatter, Some of it were of astonishment and some of it were of distrust. Aigua could not distinguish which was which. But he knew that everyone's trust in their leaders would be badly affected...or would it?

"But it was because Mark and Neha were obviously not their human selves," Aigua continued as he tried to calm everyone down.

Most of the noise went away, but the same Roselia looked sternly at Aigua, not minding the small parade of Pokemon that hurried past the crowd.

"Oh, so you're _that _irresponsible," the Roselia expressed.

"We're not all irresponsible, Melanie," Aigua answered back gently. "It was the two Chimchars who—"

"I know that, but two versus what?" Melanie retorted. "Over ten of you? Why would we trust weak leaders like you?"

"Hey, wait!" Aigua pleaded. "We can be more; we're imperfect—"

"Bah!" she exclaimed proudly. "To you, I'm just a number; you really don't care about me."

"Then why did you join this camp?" he asked.

"I thought this would help me," Melanie shouted as, erratically, she walked away from the crowd."I needed some help, after what the changes did to me. .But, after what you said, you just revealed who you really are: You're just one corrupt bunch of leaders."

Aigua just watched as the Roselia finally disappeared to some place that he did not know. It did not matter where she was going; he was wondering in his head how this was possible—it was an ever-changing string of events from the start but the Roselia now seemed erratic. _How come one day, she likes the camp and the next day, she ends up leaving it? _he thought. _But, what if there are others who don't like it here? Looks like I'll have to tell them to leave, maybe._

Without hesitation, Aigua raised his voice. "If there is anyone here who wants to leave camp, you can pack up and leave now."


	39. Breakdown

**Chapter 38**

**Breakdown**

* * *

_**Weeks before the transformations...**_

"Why on the rooftops?"

"We can't risk to be caught," a man donning a scientist's garb said.

The rooftop of the skyscraper was gray and somewhat dirty; vents, small passageways and a door were the things on the place. It was not very windy, but the air was cold for such a night. Behind and in front of the two men were other skyscrapers and tall buildings, both shorter and taller than the building they were on. Many lights were on but many more were off.

The other man, wearing a black shirt and dark jeans, looked around. He saw no one else but the man right in front of him. He immediately tightened his grip on the leather black suitcase.

"Before you even say anything," the man with the black shirt began, "it's like we're in some sort of movie and the bad guy makes a shady deal with another guy in some secret place. And chances are, you'll give me that liquid stuff of yours and I'll give you the briefcase of money. Fleur—that's your name, isn't it? This movie magic is very typical, eh?"

"Yes," Fleur answered. "It _is _typical and redundant, but movies do give some nice advise sometimes. Now, to the topic at hand."

Fleur hastily pulled out from his pocket a vial of what a slow, white liquid. He put it on the palm of his left hand and let the other man see the vial clearly.

"I heard this is what your superiors wanted," Fleur said.

"Are you sure this is the one that they want?" the other man asked. "This could be a trick."

"It will be insane for me to give you a fake or a decoy; if I did, it's very likely that you and your leaders will hunt me down to torture or even to kill me."

"I see. Can you give me the specifics of what this...liquid can do?"

"Well, I codenamed it 'DEON-1,' if that's going to do me any good. DEON-1 can and will do what your leaders want it to do: On contact with human flesh, it can turn any person into a Pokemon that is determined by the genes and brain cells of the victim. It can not turn people into mythical or legendary Pokemon; I understand that you don't want multiple Reshiram and Zekrom trying to fight you."

"If the Pokemon they'll change into is determined by the genes and so on, does it mean that it can turn a person into the Pokemon he loves a lot?"

"You can say that," Fleur replied. "However, there's another nice thing with DEON-1: It has a suppressor that drastically decreases the sense of danger detected by the victim. That means less panic, less chaos, less catastrophe, less disaster in the cities—and for you, less trouble catching them because they won't be running here and there. Also, the suppressor will partially block a certain set of thoughts from coming to mind—specifically, the thoughts of getting back to being a human. You may think this is a bad idea but it's just giving you time to capture and even contain as many hostile Pokemon as you can before it stop blocking those thoughts—whether the Pokemon used to be human or not. When the suppressor stops blocking the thoughts, it will be like a waterfall. There will be so many of those thoughts at the dam that when the dam breaks, those thoughts rush to mind perhaps all at once."

"What's that going to do?" the other man questioned.

"Depends on the person. The person may have an intense desire to get back to being a human, he may do crazy things to bring himself back to being a human, he may panic, or he may go into a spree of anger when he realizes that he won't be human for some time. There may be others, but these are the behaviors with the most likely chances of happening in one person. I know because I tested DEON-1 on some unfortunate people."

The other man looked surprised.

"Of course, I had to bring them off to some far place where they can't possibly escape. Now, you've heard enough. There is no need to ask if there's any catch to this. You did not even need to bring that suitcase of yours; half of whatever money would do."

"Oh, you don't like half a billion Poke?" the man asked. He put the briefcase on the palm of his two hands. "You can even join the big 'U.' Besides, we're going to use that DEON-1 of yours and you'll be in a safe place when we use it in our plan."

"Yes, I'll join your team of yours," Fleur answered, "but, there's one thing I need." He slowly put his hand in his pocket.

"And what do you need?" the other man asked, eyeing Fleur's suspicious hand.

Then, with a quick move, Fleur pulled out an improvised gun. A syringe flew into the flesh of the other man.

"AAAHH!" the man screamed in pain.

"I needed one more test subject," Fleur said cold-heartedly. "Thanks for volunteering."

Then, a great white light emitted from the other man's skin. The screams of pain intensified but Fleur's face did not show a sign of pity. The screams of a human slowly turned into the shouts of a Pokemon. The light dimmed and instead of a human, a pile of clothes and a Lillipup took his place.

"Lillipup!" the Lillipup shouted angrily at Fleur. The former human growled at him.

"I do not understand you now, Lillipup," Fleur told. He walked gently towards the Pokemon. "The human language and the Pokemon language are very different, aren't they?"

The Lillipup, barking in his rage, slowly walked towards Fleur. "Now, easy now," Fleur tried to calm. But the Puppy Pokemon still barked at him, the Lillipup's face looking as if it was about to bite him.

"OK, OK, you win!" Fleur exclaimed.

"Lillipup, Lillipup, Pup!" the Lillipup barked and shouted.

"Is it the berry you want?" Fleur asked. The voice sounded very honest, something very different from the voice the former human heard only minutes ago.

"Pup?" the Pokemon said in surprise—and in a sudden craving for a berry.

"Yes, Lillipup, you'll get a berry," Fleur promised. "Just don't bark at me anymore, OK?"

"Lilli..."

The Lillipup smiled as he waited for the berry and as he watched Fleur try to grab supposedly the berry. Then, suddenly, his smile was gone. He looked at the ground and then started barking angrily at Fleur again.

"Hey, what's wrong, Lillipup?"

But the Lillipup kept barking and then he dashed at him. Fleur ran quickly to his right, only to see the former human stumble on his four paws.

"Where is the trust?" Fleur asked the Pokemon. "I really have a berry for you. It's a sweet one and I know that you'll like it. Just let me get it."

Lillipup felt happy again at the promise of a berry, anticipating the berry all the more now that it will be sweet. He looked on at Fleur, trying to get a berry from his pocket. Then, he raised his hand up. In his grip was a Mago Berry.

"Here it is, Lillipup," Fleur introduced, "a sweet, juicy Mago Berry, just for you!"

The Lillipup wagged his tail happily. He could even smell the scent of the berry. _Why am I even doing this? _the former human thought to himself._Here I am, falling into an obvious trap; I'm sure that berry has some sort of sedative or something to make me sleep. Or it could even erase my human memories. How come I can't help—_

He jumped up towards the berry. All in his mind was _Give me the berry, give me the berry! _Fleur dropped the berry over the Lilllipup's mouth but it bounced off his face and landed on the ground. The Lillipup quickly ate it, anyway. He could taste the sweetness and the unique taste of the berry.

_OK, this is getting too far. I should just bite him on the leg; that would—_

He felt Fleur's hand pat his head. Instantaneously, his plans of escape were gone. They were replaced by thoughts of relaxing, the feel of being patted and having the hand go through the fur, and more berries.

"You seem very lost up here," Fleur suddenly told.

_Wait, what was I thinking?_ the former human thought. He looked at Fleur and made a surprised face but he kept the thoughts in his head. _He's telling me a straight lie; I know my way down this building and I can outrun him!_

"I'll take you to my place and keep you there until I find your trainer," Fleur tried to gentle as he pat on the Lillipup's head even more.

The warm, cozy feeling changed the Lillipup's thoughts from escaping to relaxing and waiting for his trainer to come get him. He wagged his tail and he smiled at Fleur.

_I just want to get out of here! _the former human yelled in his mind. _How come I just can't help the feeling? Oh no, what if the liquid changes the mind, too? If that's so..._

The Lillipup suddenly jumped towards Fleur, barking loudly at him and surprising the man.

"Hey!" Fleur shouted at him.

Then, he saw the Lillipup running frantically towards the only door on the roof.

"You can't get that far, you grunt!" the running Lillipup heard. He glanced back and he saw Fleur chasing him. In his hand was something but the Lillipup could not clearly see what it was.

The Pokemon looked forward. The door became closer and closer to him with every step.

"Excadrill, go get him!" Fleur suddenly yelled.

The Lillipup did not want to look back for fear that he may slow down. Then, there he was, right in front door. _Oh come on! How can I open this door? _he thought.

"I'm ready!" a voice echoed.

In panic, the Lillipup did not bother to see who said it. He charged to the door and tackled it. It hurt a little to him but the door was still not open. _OK, calm down. First, I can't just jump—_

A feeling of hard, wet mud hit him. Lillipup quickly turned around and he saw an Excadrill beside Fleur.

"Excadrill," Fleur ordered, "do what you think is best for the human—er, I mean Pokemon."

The Excadrill's claws glowed a bright white; the glow subsided and the claws looked like iron. Then, it charged with a loud shout toward the Lillipup.

_Please, no..._

The claws slashed Lillipup's small body. The former human yelled out in pain. He saw Pokemon in pain from the many battles that he watched, but he never anticipated in his whole life that he would actually feel the magnitude of pain that the fighting Pokemon really felt.

The final slash threw the Lillipup a little away from the door. The Lillipup still moaned in pain. He felt as if his energy was gone in that one minute. He looked up and saw Fleur walking up to him. He saw what the man was holding.

Two Poke Balls.

"Hold it, Excadrill" Fleur said to his Pokemon. Then, he faced the Lillipup. "I dare you to attack me."

The Lillipup did not respond. He just looked at Fleur, the Excadrill and the floor as he continued to moan.

"A few final words before you go: I am willing to join that organization that you're in. Perhaps I may have the same views as they. I will give the half billion back to the organization. And since the goals seem very ambitious and very big, I think the administration won't mind losing just one pawn. I'll tell them that I shall take good care of him.

"Excadrill, return!"

He opened of his Poke Ball and the Excadrill turned into a red, plasma-like substance and went into the Poke Ball. It closed. It scared the Lillipup.

Then, he threw the other Poke Ball at the Lillipup. The ball opened and the Lillipup turned into the same red, plasma-like substance and went into the Poke Ball. It closed and it shook. Once. Twice. Thrice. Click.

Fleur picked it up. He looked around. No one seemed to be watching him.

He dashed to the pile of clothes. He rummaged through the clothes. Then, a modern, sleek cellphone was in his sight. He turned it on but it had a password lock. He kept the cellphone in his pocket. The rummaging went on and then he found a calling card. It looked official enough. A big "U" was imprinted on the card. Under the "U" was the word "Unitary." He kept the card in his pocket and ran towards the only door on the rooftop.

* * *

**Eight days after the transformations...**

"I'm still irritated by the mass leave," Mark said as he, his friends and everyone left in the camp walked in the caves of Mount Coronet. "It's as if one moment, it's all normal, then the next moment, everything goes downhill from there!"

"Shh!" Some Pokemon from behind shushed.

The Chimchar looked at the Pokemon behind him. "Yeah, I get it!" Mark angrily whispered. "We're trying to do our best in handling our part of this situation." He looked back at the underground path ahead of him. "But we never asked hundreds of you to come here," he mumbled; "I was expecting at best fifty or sixty to be here by now. If you learned to at least be thankful that we're helping you cope with these changes."

"Just keep quiet, Mark," Wallace said sternly. "You might alert the local Zubat. And start treating everyone else nicely; you're not the only one who used to be a human."

Mark groaned. He said nothing more as they continued walking quietly through the dark caves of the mountain.

Then, a sound.

"EEEEEE!" Mary screamed as the screeching sound ringed throughout the caves and through their ears.

"Somebody stop the Zubat!" A Cleffa from the crowd shouted.

"No! Don't attack them on sight, remember?" Frank yelled at everyone. Only a few actually looked at him as the rest tried their best to look straight at the Treecko without letting their ears experience more pain. "If we just stay calm and don't make a sound—"

"Zubat have good hearing, Frank," Clive reminded.

"Uh...don't panic, everybody?" Frank said sheepishly.

But his statement went unheard, with some clearly panicking.

And then, the Zubat came. With painful, screeching sounds. Sounds that grew more painful as the Zubat came closer.

Some Pokemon attacked in spite of the pain, but the rest just did their best to cover their ears from all the pain.


	40. Celestial

**Chapter 39**

**Celestial**

_"None are more unjust in their judgments of others than those who have a high opinion of themselves." - Charles Spurgeon._

* * *

"OK, OK! We're finally out of the caves." Wallace announced to the moving crowd behind him. "No more Zubat or Golbat to worry about anymore, guys and gals."

As they walked out from the caves, they saw the sunlight. The sight of the sunlight was relief to them after spending many hours in the caves of Mount Coronet and after many scary encounters with Zubat, Golbat and even Crobat, not to mention the other Pokemon who lived there. It was indeed relief even though the sun was already setting. A familiar feeling to them yet it was good to have it back.

The sight of grass, both short and tall, was back. The sky being the immediate thing above them was back, too. The sight of nearby cliffs may not have given them much relief but they did not give much intimidation either. It was as if the sight of anything but the caves was relief for them. Some of the Pokemon even sighed in relief, others commenting about how it was good to be away from the darkness of the caves, while a few were still sleeping, being carried by several, more stronger Pokemon.

"Is that Celestic Town over there?" Ledas asked Wallace as she walked beside him. She pointed towards the simple, small houses that were ahead of them. They were not that far in the horizon.

"Yes," he replied.

"Hey, what are you two talking about?" Mark loudly teased.

"Wait, what?" Wallace said in surprise.

He and Ledas turned and saw Mark smiling proudly. "Are you...um, talking about..."

Wallace knew better. He had faced such things from Mark before and even before they were transformed. Ledas was trying not to overreact.

"Love?" Ledas interrupted, then continued, "Sorry, Mark, but we're just talking about Celestic Town, that's all. And it's sort of embarassing: You're someone important in the camp and what do you do, in front of everyone else?"

"Think about it, Mark," William remarked from beside him. "At least show some respect. Jokes have their limits and you know that."

"Yeah, yeah, I get it," Mark said arrogantly.

"...or do you know it?" William continued.

"Hey!" Mark shouted at the joking Mudkip. The grin came back, though.

"Don't make it any worse, guys," Mary cautioned.

"Don't worry about me!" Mark replied eccentrically. "Worry about the Mudkip!"

"Oh, never mind," Mary gave up. She sighed but thought that it was settled already.

Then, they continued to walk.

* * *

The Pokemon Center had most of its night lights up. Inside, the floor was white, clean and shiny. There were seats on the walls. At the far end was a counter with a Chansey and a medical machine behind it. A shelf of books was beside the counter. Much of the remaining space was empty.

"Ready for the night shift again, Beatrice?" the Rhydon asked in front of the counter.

"As always, Zekey," the Chansey replied. "You know that I'll always be here except for Saturdays."

"Ahahahaha! Of course I know that. I just can't get tired of saying that. Even when I'm a Pokemon and you're a Pokemon and everyone's a Pokemon, I'm not gonna stop saying that question!"

"Right, but why are you here again? I appreciate that you still visit me even after the 'changings' and all that, but since I see no other Pokemon with you, why do you still, um, bother visiting me every evening?"

"Uhh, let's just say that I'm very used to doing this...so it ends up as part of my routine. But that doesn't I don't care about you."

"It boils down to you coming here just because you want to talk to me? I don't have time for this every evening; no offense, Zeke."

"My Pokemon, especially my Rhypherior...um, they...how do you say this?..."

"You took care of your Pokemon already. Is that what you mean?"

"It's something like that. They're even OK with me leaving them for a while just to visit you."

"Hold it!" Beatrice said sternly.

"What is it?" Zeke asked worriedly.

"Are you...in _love _with me?"

"Uh..." he began.

"It's the only reason why you would keep on coming here at all even if you or your Pokemon didn't need any medical help! You _must _have been in love with me all along!"

"But, I—"

"I should have known this before!" Beatrice continued on, with a confusing expression. "You've been doing this for months now and—"

The double glass doors opened. Beatrice stopped and gasped in front of Zeke.

"It's just patients—Woah."

There were many Pokemon. Zeke stood dumbfounded at the sight of it while he stammered in shock. The wide crowd of Pokemon even stretched beyond the glass door. What did they need? Why are they here? Who are they? Why were there so many of them? Questions and conlcusions went through the Rhydon's mind.

"Uh...hi there, all of you!" Beatrice greeted cheerily. "I'm sorry if we can't hold cater to all of your needs, but we'll try!"

"Do you have enough rooms for about ninety or a hundred Pokemon of different sizes?" Mackie asked.

"Beatrice, are you sure that you can handle _that _many?" Zeke whispered. "I'm just gonna go, OK?"

"OK," Beatrice replied simply.

Zeke nodded. He quickly rushed to the clogged double doors.

"Oops...Sorry...Excuse me, there..." All while carefully avoiding stepping on the smaller Pokemon.

Then, Zeke was outside and out of sight.

Mackie landed on the counter, in front of the Chansey. "Psst, does he love you?"

"Shh!" Beatrice reacted.

Almost every Pokemon fixed their attention on the two in front.

"May some of us stay here for the meanwhile, Nurse?" Mackie asked.

"Yes, sure you may," Beatrice replied out loud. "Just take the hall to your right. It will lead you to the staying rooms. Don't spend too much time there and if the doorknob has a 'Do not Disturb' door hanger, just don't go there. OK, Mister...what's your name?"

"It's Mackie."

Many of the Pokemon headed towards the long hall. Beatrice looked at the noisy, moving crowd of Pokemon and she started to look worried.

"And, what about all your friends? I don't think this Center is big enough for all of you."

"Well, the very first leaders of this group began just as a small group supposed to help others cope with the transformations. It's still the same goal but you already saw that it has grown quite a lot."

"I see..." Beatrice responded. She looked at the many Pokemon moving.

"So what's your name, Nurse?"

"My name is Beatrice. As you know, I work here and I've been here for some years but I've never seen so many Pokemon come here before."

"You're doing it for free, though."

"It's OK with me. It's the lives of Pokemon that's more important than the money, anyway.

"So, are you getting used to your new life, yet, Mackie?"

"I think so. I have a voice that sounds like I pinched my nose non-stop, I have feathered wings instead of hands with fingers, I have a beak, I can imitate the voice of almost anyone, I can fight, get hurt and still feel energized; I can eat Pokemon berries and not worry about getting poisoned or feeling funny, and I can speak gibberish to confuse others. I lived like that for eight days and I'm still living like that. To be honest, it's been dangerously fun since I got transformed. And what about _your _new life?"

"As a Chansey?" Beatrice began. "Uh, having an egg on my pouch almost all the time? It feels awkward for a while, but I think I'll get used to it. I got shorter and I am really bothered by that. Laying eggs everyday? Quite a bit of a surprise, especially when it's all done overnight!"

Mackie slightly winced.

"Maybe I shouldn't have mentioned that," Beatrice remarked.

"It's OK, I can take it," Mackie waved. "Eggs are common food, so don't worry about telling me that. Just...just continue on, Beatrice."

"Can we stop now, Mackie?" Beatrice asked. "I like talking with you but what if there are other customers who may come in any minute now? And what about your role with the group that you're in?"

"First, my role in the group is quite complicated to think of right now. For now, I'm the representative speaker of the leaders—sounds confusing to me."

"Excuese me, Mackie," Beatrice began, "but you don't need to go deep into the details now. You and your leaders already brought so many Pokemon here and sooner or later, I have to take care of them. Even though we have a second floor and some other nurses, it's still going to be a hectic time for me."

"I understand, Beatrice," Mackie replied. "I'll go now."

"OK, go."

Then, he flew off the counter.

He flew through the hallways. Below him were some Pokemon here and there—most of them from the camp. The white doors had a window on each of them. The rooms looked the same—small rooms fitted for the medical and physical needs of the trainer or the Pokemon who was there. The hallway itself had intersections of its own, leading to more hallways and more doors which held more rooms, as if a maze was in the back of the Pokemon Center.

"Gee, where is Wallace and the others?" Mackie thought out loud. "I can't just open every door and he doesn't seem to be in the hall now."

* * *

"Do you plan to get back into being a human?" Neha asked her trainer as he leaned on the wall.

"Definitely," Mark answered, "and I don't need to say anything much about it."

"All three of us want to get our humanity back, Neha," Dave replied from on his bed. "It's only been like what—around a week? I'm trying to cope with this Pokemon nature, but I really want to be human again."

"I agree with you," Wallace said as he walked around in the small room. "Do I like these perks as a Pokemon? Yes. Do I complain about the things that I don't like about it? I don't. However, even if it is comforting, I'll take antitode over living the rest of my life as a Pokemon."

"See?" Mark reasoned. "It's interesting that we've spent only a day with you as a human and at least a week as a Pokemon, but in the end, we _all _want to be human again."

"What if there's nothing that can reverse it?" Bodem chimed in. "What will you do?"

"Maybe I'll cry in tears?" Dave thought out loud. Everyone else in the room looked at him. "What? It's only a _maybe_."

"But you're planning to battle gym leaders," Aigua spoke. "And you also have a camp that's more like a relief-and-counseling station, only with a lot more help in it. Are you sure you really want to be human again?"

"Didn't we just tell you earlier?" Mark replied arrogantly.

"Respect, Mark," Wallace scolded sternly. Then, he turned to Aigua. "Well, we have our priorities."

"So your priority about being a human again is overtaken by battling gym leaders?" Aigua asked.

"Not really. Besides, since there's no official announcement from any authority about a cure, I think to myself 'Hey, why don't we just make the most of the time we have as Pokemon before the antitode is released?' I _had _higher education, but I still don't have enough to make one myself and I doubt anyone in the entire camp can do it, even with teamwork."

"What's the purpose of going on with the camp idea, then?" Bodem asked.

"It's former humans helping other former humans cope with being a Pokemon," Wallace answered. He walked towards a bag of chips. For humans. "We help them cope with, for example, a change of diet. And of course, the change of mindset, of body, of instincts, of nature, et cetera."

"You can say that's your mission statement," Dave added.

"OK...even in this, we'll stick with you with great loyalty," Bodem stated. "You chose us, after all, to be your Pokemon. The loving loyalty is us returning the favor."

"That's, a bit nice," Wallace admitted. He felt some sort of comfort in him. _Loyalty, perhaps? _he thought.

"Hey, can someone get the chips?" Mark asked. "I'm getting hungry here! And I miss eating chips!"

"Isn't that a bit unhealthy for Pokemon?" Neha asked back.

* * *

_"The flesh inclines us more to believe a temptation than a promise."_ - Thomas Watson


	41. Too Early

**Chapter 40**

**Too Early**

"_Resolved, never to do anything which I should be afraid to do if it were the last hour of my life."_

_- Jonathan Edwards_

* * *

A night went by. A dark sky went by. Then, midnight had already passed, yet it was still dark.

It was now nine days since the worldwide, instantaneous transformation happened to most of humanity. A week and two days had passed. It was short but it felt like two weeks. Or even years, perhaps.

In the room, Wallace and Dave were awake near a corner. The others were sleeping in that brightly lit room. They continued sleeping, not noticing the Piplup and the Turtwig that were on the tiled, white floor.

"Wallace, I thought about it in my sleep. It's just...I don't know..." Dave continued.

"I don't know how exactly everything works," Wallace replied. "I know that if so many were turned into Pokemon overnight, it would cause a lot of chaos; not to mention that a lot of us accepted the change with little hesitation. I know about that, but I'm not really sure why we're like this. Is it because of the Pokemon instincts?"

"Hey, don't ask me. I don't know about it, too. Even if it _was _the 'instincts' or whatever they are, there's still room to blame the undercover guys who did all of this."

"I think you're getting somewhere, Dave."

"Ha, thanks. But, if it's from them, what did they do? They can't just magically put sedative on even half the planet!"

"Shh!" Wallace interrupted. "Can you at least be quiet?"

"Well, give me something logical: How did they do it?"

"I honestly don't know. I'm not sure. But...why did you think about this now? No wait...the emotions at the first few days, and then the settling down so the person can think about the changes. Maybe that's why we were not that concerned about it during the first week or so."

"Yeah, I think it's pretty obvious when everyone's just woke up as a Pokemon. I mean, it's not an everyday thing to go to sleep as a human then suddenly wake up as a Pokemon. But, if that's the case, how come there's no cities being burned or towns being filled with broken windows and looters here and there? Isn't that supposed to happen with such a worldwide situation? I'm telling you, Wallace, they must have put some sort of sedative or something in their 'transformation machine' or whatever they did!"

"Dave, let's not go believing conspiracy theories just because they sound probable. However, let me be honest with you — the magnitude of chaos I've seen is strange. I understand if more than a few have not gone mad because they haven't heard the news of the 'world-wideness' of the changes. But, how come it's as if something is restraining everyone transformed from going insane over it?"

"Maybe they added 'safety precautions'?"

"Maybe. It's only a maybe, though."

"Hold on...how come almost no one is catching the transformed Pokemon? I mean, here we are, right in the open. Many Pokemon. The bad guys can just go with a bunch of Poke Balls and there goes the former humans. It's a golden opportunity; how come they're not doing it right away?"

"Perhaps normal Poke Balls can't catch 'strange Pokemon.' I don't know about Master Balls but the other Poke Balls may not have...maybe they can't catch us because we may have kept some part of our human DNA footprint in us or some other human relic. Honestly, I don't know. But, if it's because the Poke Balls can't catch us, that's gonna be good news for all of us."

"I hope that's true," Dave remarked.

He looked at his flipper. No fingers. No appendage. The feeling was now familiar to him. But, it somehow still felt new.

"When do we get human again?" Dave asked.

"Dave, _I don't know," _Wallace replied sternly."The best we can do is to try coping with this life. Remember, I did not ask for it. Neither did you."

He walked towards a filled plastic bag leaning on the wall. Dave slowly followed him there.

The bag had packages of chips, supported by canned foods for Pokemon and assorted poffins wrapped in smaller plastic bags.

"At one point, I actually tried to play nice with whoever did this," he began as he continued walking. "I had known it would not do much at all. Those...whoever did this wouldn't even notice me." Then, he was right in front of the plastic bag.

Dave remained silent. He did not know where Wallace was going with this. He braced for either something shocking or something trivial.

"I'm already at the point where I'm familiar with myself yet I'm not. I'm already used to walking on four stubs, yet I still don't feel that it's right."

He turned to Dave.

"Are you OK?" Dave asked.

"Don't worry; I'm still OK," Wallace insisted with a forced calmness. "Being a Pokemon is not making me go crazy. But I think that some things that I did back then, when it was just our first day being Pokemon—I think that I may have acted a bit too quickly."

Dave remained silent for a little while, thinking about it. He asked in shock, "You're going to disband the Pokemon camp?"

"No," Wallace answered. "To be honest with you, I do have regrets with it. But, many already joined. I don't want to turn out to be some fraud, but I really haven't thought this through."

"Like the time that you haven't thought through planning for our trip to Hoenn?" Dave asked teasingly.

"No!...er, maybe. The point is that I haven't thought this through. I thought only a few would come in. But in the end, we have about...ninety or a hundred. I'm beginning to lose count, but I know it's not a hundred twenty. I think I gave them the option to leave the camp if they want, but with all this stuff going around since we became Pokemon, it's been rough."

"Maybe a lot will leave you here?" Dave suggested. Then, he took a quick glance at Mark and their Pokemon. He was still sleeping. So were they.

"Just like that? Really" Wallace replied wonderingly. "Pokemon won't just go away from you when you want to. And I can't just say to them 'I'm very sorry but you have to leave us now because...we feel like it.' They're not going to leave in an instant."

"Well, you can try staying here for a few more days, quietly send them off gradually when they're done or whatever, and in no time, it'll just be us and some friends."

Dave sat down on the floor."If it's what you want, Wallace. But, I think this is just slowing us down. No offense to them but...did we really need to do this charity stuff? Even if we do want to give to them, we just don't have enough for even half of the camp. They're still there because...they're Pokemon! They can get food and water when they see it. They—"

"It's not that simple, Dave," Wallace stated. "They also want and need what we can give them. Sometimes, they even want counseling! After days of this, do you think most of them are not _that _committed? Even if we have to get them out soon, I'm not getting them out just yet. It's too hard for me to do it."

Before Dave even spoke up, Wallace grabbed the big plastic bag with his mouth, spilling out some of the cans, the bread, and the chips.

"Gonna eat?" Dave asked.

"Mm-hm," Wallace replied with a nod.

The Turtwig then got a wrapped poffin and opened the plastic wrapper. He grabbed the sprinkled poffin with his mouth. He then started eating it on the floor.

"Bittersweet," he commented. He went back to just eating his poffin.

Dave then got a poffin for himself. For now, it did not matter to him what the taste was. It was just a little more than an after-midnight snack. He bit it.

"Just don't eat all of it," Dave said, expecting a wider smile from his brother's face.

"Yeah," Wallace replied. "And I'll think about what you said, Dave."

"So you'll finally get them out as soon as possible?" Dave eagerly asked.

"I said I'll _think about it_, Dave," the Turtwig corrected. "For now, all of us leaders and co-leaders continue our duties in the camp, and those leaders include you and me." Then, he finished his poffin in one big swallow. Wallace grabbed another wrapped poffin and began biting off the wrapper.

Dave quickly finished his poffin. "Hey Wally, I'm gonna go back to sleep now," Dave told. "If you finish every poffin there, it's your fault." The Piplup snickered as he headed toward his bed.

"All right, Dave," Wallace replied. "I'll be all right."

Dave looked back at Wallace with a smile. Then, he turned back, climbed up the bed, and plopped himself on the bed and under a pillow.

Wallace still looked on at his second poffin. _Wally? _he thought. _I'll still have to get used to that._

He munched away his poffin. Looking around him, he saw that none of those sleeping, not even Dave, were looking at him or even noticing him. Not even disturbed by the chewing.

It was quiet in the bright room. Dark was the outside. Many of the nocturnal Pokemon—whether they were human before or not—were very likely to still be up at this time. Who knows whether one former human might have already given in so much and so far to animal instincts that he might as well preyed on even very young Pokemon?

Wallace had dealt with that question for several nights. Surprisingly, none of them suffered any major injury during the nights when they were Pokemon.

Would he give in to those Pokemon instincts? He did not want to. He did not want to be reduced to a very wild, instinct-driven (yet calm) Turtwig.

He still munched on that poffin, chewing slowly as he thought about it all.

What about the camp? Was it really a bad idea? To him, it was now a bad idea. But how come he did not see it as a bad idea? Was it a Turtwig quirk that he suddenly accepts about every approaching Pokemon into his group without even knowing who the are? Was he blinded by such a quirk back then? Probably.

What about those who were still part of that camp? That Pokemon station? He noticed that the name for it did change but it was not as important to him as was the Pokemon in it. Most, if not all of them, used to be human. There had to be a reason why they joined such a group.

Loneliness. Or a search for answers—many were surely confused when, one day, they woke up and unexpectedly found themselves to be Pokemon. Or maybe a sense of belonging. Or was it to just find that one person—who was now a Pokemon? Or perhaps an honest intention to make new friends in spite of the circumstances. Or a protection. Or a place to take comfort in while others were finding their way out of the beginning mess. Or, somehow, the reason was just to be in there and nothing more.

To be sure, he thought in his head that there were at least a few that were not _that _committed to keeping the camp or station alive. But, even if there were Pokemon like that in the group, they were already outnumbered by those who had at least some commendable sort of commitment to it. Some part in that Pokemon's spirit, whether small or big, was sure to break if he were to suddenly announce that he was disbanding and ending the group, and that he was sending everyone left to their own—or at least to a temporary residence in Celestic Town or some nearby place.

Was it selfishness? Or could he honestly say to them "It's for your own good"? Even if it was honest, how would they treat him if he did end it all? He did not know but he did not expect much good response.

And what about the friends he made?

There was Catherine the Buneary. Maybe a bit whining at times, but he did not really remember a lot about her. He _was _busy with many other things and Pokemon as time went on. He hoped that her feelings weren't hurt by his negligence.

Then there was Anne the Meditite. Sure, she was psychic but even though she could read others' minds now, she had said that she did not prefer to read them very often. With that said, Wallace still made sure that this thoughts were not messed up whenever he senses that Anne is nearby.

There was Mackie; he was...chatty, which seemed typical for Chatot. He was a nice help for almost as long as the group existed. Then, there was Rhye; a bit cruel, very brutal yet a good disciplinarian for the group. Then, there was Ledas whose trainer was probably inside some secret Team Galactic facility somewhere in Sinnoh—if they haven't shipped her off to some other region already. And that's not to mention the fact that it was him along with the others who brought her from the "jail." Then there was, Cameron and his Typhlosion, Ember. From the dozens of times he saw the two together, he had already deduced that there was some sort of love relationship between the two—a relationship that seemed bizarre to him. Then there was Kenneth; he was a bit odd with all his speaking in reverse sentences but Wallace tried his best to cope with it. Perhaps he may never know why Kenneth spoke like that, but he liked to know. Before he leaves. Before Wallace makes him and everyone else leave—if the Turtwig was going to do that. Then there was Gabi. The Dratini, like Wallace, was interested in rock music. The metal kind of rock music. But, it intrigued him that she also was very good at Chess―although he also did notice that she was a bit shaky at times.

Was it all accurate?

He was a bit surprised when he finished his second poffin. But the pack of wrapped poffins did not seem to become smaller. Thinking in his head that it was just the third poffin, he took one and quietly bit off the wrapper of that poffin. Then the slightly hungry Turtwig took a bite of the poffin.

_Still bitter, _he thought.

Dave's suggestion was the thought that still kept him away from sleeping. He wanted to act as soon as possible but only when it is the right time. The two choices were considered, even as sleepiness threatened to fog his train of thought.

If he ended the group, he would lose many friends. But, were they really friends or only close acquaintances? Brothers and those who were with him when he was in elementary school were obviously closer to him than those he met only after they were all mysteriously changed into Pokemon. However, they would have a lot less stress on their hands. Maybe it would then be easier to get the gym badges and perhaps catch the ones responsible for this mess—although he did not know exactly how less Pokemon meant an easier job to overcome them. Resources would still be available—and about every human was now a Pokemon; many of them would have figured out to be a bit more resourceful by now, Wallace reasoned in his mind.

If he kept the group going, everyone would, obviously, still be there if none of them have already chosen to leave already. However, he, his brothers, and several of his long-time friends would still have the responsibility to provide them the things that kept them living. He did not know if that task was easier or harder to handle since other than those from Team Galactic, he saw no human at all for the past week. But, whether it dealt with humans or Pokemon, it was still hard because there were about a hundred of them in the group. Trees were many, freshwater lakes and rivers were nearby and there were bunches and bunches of berries ripe enough to be eaten straight from the plants and bushes but one thing was clear: There were still many Pokemon.

If Wallace had any concrete goal in mind―and he _did _have some in his mind―the goal would be slowed down by using a big part of his (and his brothers' and his friends') resources and resourcefulness. And not just resources―time, energy and effort, too. _Their _time, energy and effort.

But he had to admit it. If the only reason he would send every "member Pokemon" back to his or her own was that it was straining him and his friends, the Turtwig would be betraying an aura of selfishness. It would be perceived not as a subtle but an almost blatant mark of selfishness.

For the most part, only psychics and legendary Pokemon knew or even predicted how people and Pokemon would react to a certain section. But Wallace had a hunch. Perhaps only a few and some would lash back at such a declaration and call him names―maybe some insults would be thrown in the mix.

_If that's the case, _Wallace thought further, _they'll understand and be a little good to me. They really need to bear with me._

And the third poffin was finished.

He looked at the crumbs of all the poffins he ate that night.

_I'll do it. _Wallace was firm in thinking that. Then, he whispered to himself, "I'll do it."

He set aside the wrappers at the foot of the recycle bin at the corner. It was a bit strange for him to think that he spent so much time in deep thought while eating some poffins late after midnight. But after the transformations, strange things did appeare to be everywhere. Then, somehow, he went to bed and dozed off.

As he tried to sleep, he asked in his head a peculiar question. _What are "they" going to do about this? _It was interesting he never taught about it before, even when he saw the old statue of a very powerful (and no doubt legendary) Pokemon back at Eterna City.

_What are "they" going to do about this?_

* * *

"Huh?" was Gabi's response.

Having just woken up minutes ago, Gabi saw a small piece of paper laid near the door of the room. She was sure that it was not there before. The paper did not seem important but there was writing on it.

If the paper was meant for someone, it could only be her. She was the only one in that small, (mostly) white room. The paper did not seem harmless nor did it seem to be part of some clever trap.

She slithered her way to the paper. The paper couldn't be flipped—she had no hands. But, thankfully, there was writing on that side of the paper.

It read:

_ I am very sorry for being very brief on this. After much thinking, I decided to end this camp. It's not that I don' care for you. I _do _care for you. However, I found out that we started this whole group without that much planning. Because of that, all of us are stressed and strained because of too much work. So for now, you can either stay here in Celestic Town or you can go back to wherever you came from or you can go to wherever you want. Just be careful. I hope you understand._

_ Wallace_

* * *

A patch of grass was being passed by and ignored by every Pokemon that came in view. The Pokemon were of all kinds—in species and in personality. No matter how kind or mean they were, none of them noticed that patch of grass with Gracideas. That little patch of grass never saw a human, though.

And, no one seemed to notice that patch of grass change places at times. No Pokemon even cared that the flowers were here at one hour and there at the next. They did not see it.

It went on for the whole day.

As the sun set, a small group of talking Pokemon passed by that patch. It listened intently to the conversations of that group but it could only listen for a little while. It could move now and none of them would even see it happen, but to it, it was too risky now.

And then, they were already out of sight.

The Shaymin looked left and right. She saw no Pokemon nearby. None of them would see her at all.

She quickly ran to the nearby woods. No one would see her.

It became a little hobby of hers after that unexpected day. One day, she rested among the grass and flowers and sometimes flew around in the sky. On the next day, she quickly heard the news about—

"Shaymin?" a familiar voice asked.

"Mew?" Shaymin answered back.

Why was Mew here?

_"What are 'they' going to do about this?"_


	42. They and Them

**Note from the author: Let me respond to the reviews, first.**

**Kyugoichi Kuroyama - **At this point, I'm not sure if I can put your original character in the immediate future. But I appreciate the interesting situation that he would face. And concerning the points you pointed about the story, you do raise good points and you pointed out some flaws that I honestly never saw until you came in. For point one, I addressed this back in Chapter 38. I suggest you read it yourself since I feel uncomfortable detailing certain parts of the story at the "Author's Notes" section. For the point two, I never thought about that. But here's a compromise: I've never seen airports in Sinnoh nor Johto nor Kanto. At best, this story assumes that the transformations took place in a quiet night for the airspace. For point three, I addressed this already in Chapter 40. So, I thank you for your input.

**Miyuki Frostleaf - **I'm beginning to mix names up. Sorry for that. But, it's a bit comforting that someone pointed the error out before it's too late.

**Second,** enjoy reading. This is shaping up to be a long-runner for me but it's worth it.

* * *

**Chapter 41**

**"They" and "Them"**

_"But as in our day have arisen certain frantic men, such as Servetus and others, who, by new devices, have thrown everything into confusion, it may be worthwhile briefly to discuss their fallacies." - _John Calvin

* * *

Back to day one. Back to that bright light.

Bright light.

That is what it was. It was either very near the cavern or it was immensely bright.

Mesprit quickly floated outside the cavern. She had to see what the light was all about? Did it have something to do with Dialga or Palkia? Or both of them at once? Maybe even Arceus?

By the time she was outside the cavern, the light was gone.

Nothing she saw was different. The cavern was still there with no change. She was still floating on the center of Lake Verity. The trees still looked the same. The grass still looked as green and as normal as she could remember them being that way.

Mesprit knew that it was not a trick of her mind. She knew it was real. But what did the light really do?

She was sure that her counterparts saw it, too. Was it something that she was supposed to see? Was it something that she had to see yet she missed it?

And then, she disappeared.

* * *

Bright light.

It was so bright that even Manaphy was a bit blinded by the light—and he was underwater. The light made the Seafaring Pokemon flinch briefly.

Then, the light was gone.

Manaphy went up to the surface. He looked around to see where the light could have been coming from. The lighthouse near Canalave City was shining its light, but it usually was not _that _bright. If it was, it may have as well blinded every sailor who saw it.

Maybe it was just the light getting wonky, that's all. Just maybe, but it seemed to be the most reasonable to the little Manaphy.

* * *

Bright light.

She was the Cresselia, the Lunar Pokemon; often associated with a bright, full moon. Her pink, ring-like wings glowed, especially during the night time.

But, even if she did glow so brightly, she was sure that she had not made that very, very bright light.

At that night, she saw it. She even felt it lightly touching her, as if the light was from the faraway sun. But the sun was not there. Cresselia knew with certainty that nights do not suddenly become warm mornings. And that was true.

"What is that?" she exclaimed.

When the light had gone as soon and as fast as it appeared, the sky was still a very dark blue. The stars were still there. The quarter moon did not change a bit.

The Lunar Pokemon, who had been living for centuries and even millenia, knew that the sudden appearance of such a bright light was not something ordinary.

Curiosity and concern overcame her. She headed quickly towards a secret place that only she and other legendary and mythical Pokemon like her knew.

A place—perhaps even an entirely different dimension—that only a few humans ever saw.

As she headed there, she thought about what the others would do about it—if they had not been notified of it already. She also wondered what that bright light really did. It did not destroy the region nor the world—the grass was still green, the mountains were still as tall as they were and the seas did not turn to oil or blood.

Nor did the light seemed to bring some good either. It all seemed the same. Maybe the light gave every sleeping human sweet dreams and not nightmares. But was not that what she brought? Nightmares were gone when she was around. Did Arceus replace her with a bright yet impersonal explosion of strange light?

_Speaking of Arceus, what is he going to do? _Cresselia thought. _He surely knows something about this._

* * *

The place was a hall. A big hall. It was not too big, though. The floors, the walls and columns seemed to be made of silver—or even a more precious gray metal. The columns were mixed with silver, wood and clay. They were evenly spread in the hall. The ceiling was not there. Above the hall was a dark, starry sky, with the quarter moon still there. Whatever lighted the hall seemed to be hidden. There was no big lamp. No big, fancy chandelier. No creepy-looking candle. No fluorescent light or light bulb was in sight. If there were any, they seemed invisible to the naked eye.

In the middle was a very large square area. It was where the hall expanded. No furniture or thing was on the floor. The windows on the wall were big and tall but had no glass on them. What could be seen beyond the windows and outside the large room was the dark sky above and the dark sky below. One could see clouds very far below if he were to look out the window

Then Celebi suddenly appeared in the hall.

"Am I late?" Being the only one present, Celebi might have chuckled at himself had he not encountered that bright but strange light. Phenomena like that would only cause the more concerned legendary Pokemon to report to this place. If it was a worldwide happening that was unusual—not just suspicious but truly unusual and not normal—they _had _to go there.

While he waited for others to come in, he had the grave feeling that he did not see it coming. He traveled to many different times—even alternate and parallel timelines. However, he could not remember something like this. Was it a time that he visited so long ago that he forgot? But Pokemon like him rarely do forget. Perhaps it was a time that he had not visited before. Perhaps among all the different and various times and timelines he visited and experienced, this occurrence—this time—was not among them.

The green Time Travelling Pokemon hoped that it was not too bad.

Then, three other Pokemon appeared. Celebi knew immediately who they were.

"Like always, Celebi," Mesprit remarked. The usual cheerfulness of the Emotion Pokemon was not there.

"So you three are thinking that it's very serious?" Celebi asked them.

"Why," Azelf asked back, "is it not that serious? All three of us saw it. We're very sure even Rayquaza saw it from up there!"

"Of course it's that serious! I was hoping that you weren't thinking that—"

Someone else then appeared in the hall.

"You saw it from _space_?" Mesprit asked the Pokemon.

"I was still in the Earth's atmosphere at the time," Deoxys answered, "thank you very much."

"OK," Celebi began. "At least some of us here. While we wait for the others to arrive, did you see what the light really did? Because I didn't see the light do anything at all back at the Ilex Forest when I got back there."

"We checked the area around all three of the lakes and we saw no difference," Uxie reported.

"I came here just to see an explanation for whatever caused that...light-thing," Deoxys said. "I was near the stratosphere when I saw the light cover the whole world. I did a fast—"

"Wait, it really went through the _whole world_?" Mesprit exclaimed in surprise. "This is something _really_ bad! Really bad!"

"Calm down!" Azelf and Uxie yelled in unison at the panicking Mesprit.

"We're here," a firm voice announced.

Celebi turned and saw Cobalion, the Iron Will Pokemon. Beside him were Virizion, the Grassland Pokemon, and Terrakion, the Cavern Pokemon. Behind Cobalion was the Colt Pokemon, Keldeo.

"I didn't you know you could teleport," Celebi wondered at them.

"Actually, it was Mew who teleported us here," Cobalion explained.

"She said something about gathering all the others here," Keldeo spoke up. "It has something to do what the strange light—that's what she told us."

"Celebi," Viriziona addressed, "do you happen to see what that strange brightness actually did?"

"Some of us are already asking the same questions," Celebi replied. "But Deoxys said he saw the entire world filled with that bright light."

"Really?" Keldeo asked in shock. "I...I don't know what to say about that. Maybe it's a good thing or it's a bad thing."

"I'm already thinking that it's something more than just bad," Celebi told him.

"Xerneas?" Deoxys asked.

Celebi turned back and he saw Xerneas and Yveltal. "I was not expecting you two to come here," he said as he floated towards the two Pokemon. "Well, I wasn't until I heard—"

"You don't need to explain yourself any further," Xerneas asserted. "And don't expect Yveltal to talk much. He's been a bit quiet lately."

"Something wrong with him?"

"Not really."

"Celebi?" another voice asked.

"Latias?" Celebi turned, saw Latias, and asked back, "Did you bring Latios?"

"Uh, _he _brought me here," Latias clarified, pointing to her nearby "brother," as some have suggested and opined.

Latios only nodded at Celebi.

"Let me make this quick," Celebi continued: "No one here knows so far what the light really did. I haven't Xerneas or Yveltal yet but let me ask you first: Was there any difference after the light left?"

"Yes, we did see something change," Latios replied seriously.

"Finally, someone actually saw it."

"But," Latios added, "let me warn you that what I'm going to tell you would surprise everyone else here. You may not be ready for this. Latias and I are still trying to get used to it."

"Come on, tell me what it is!" Celebi demanded impatiently.

Then, he heard more Pokemon enter the hall and room. Celebi and the two Eon Pokemon looked to see who they were now.

"Let me see: It's Reshiram, Zekrom, Kyurem, Genesect and Meloetta, plus the Regi trio and Regigigas, with Rayquaza also. And Heatran is also here. How did all of you get here at once? This is becoming a hectic time for me."

"To your own, then," Kyurem said as he went to a corner in the hall. The others went to their "own" places or to other, more familiar faces, talking about almost nothing but the bright, strange light.

Meloetta, the quaint Melody Pokemon, rushed towards Celebi. The face on her as she rapidly approached was one of not just surprise that was still there but also a bit of true fear. Celebi did not need to analyze her to know that she was at least a little afraid.

"Uh, Meloetta?" Celebi was curious yet concerned about her. "Are you all right?"

"You won't believe what just happened!" Meloetta cried out, bringing many in the room to cast their glances on her and Celebi.

"It has something to do with the light, isn't it?"

"He...he, _changed _in an instant!"

"What do you mean 'He changed in an instant'?" Celebi inquired.

"I think she saw a human when the light appeared," Latios let out.

"So the light affected humans but not Pokemon?" Celebi asked further.

"Uh-huh, like you haven't figured out already," Genesect replied informally, gesturing at Celebi's form. "_You _haven't changed a bit."

Celebi looked around fast. There were even more Pokemon here—including Mewtwo and Mew herself. It could be very well said that almost every legendary and mythical Pokemon were already here.

"So, what happened to the humans?" Celebi then asked some more. An air of concern was in his voice. "Did the light killed them? Did it teleport them to random places around the world? Did it make them a lot more evil? I need to know!"

"The light instantly changed them into Pokemon," Dialga declared.

Celebi turned once more and saw more Pokemon. Dialga, Palkia and even Giratina were present. On the corner of his vision, he also saw Shaymin. He saw some more others, too, but Dialga's unexpected statement stunned him.

Every Pokemon in the room looked at Dialga, Palkia and Giratina, standing together. All of them looked on the three Pokemon; they looked with anticipation. The statement made everyone stop doing whatever they were doing.

If it had been serious just a few minutes ago, it was a lot more serious now.

"Whether you did know about it or not," Dialga started, "both of us will have to inform you about the present emergency. I want everyone to listen; this will be very important.

"Before anyone asks questions, I can confirm to you that about ninety-nine percent of all living humans are now Pokemon because of this strange light." Dialga seemed unfazed, even appearing untouched, by the bright light and whatever the light had done to practically every human. "The light or whatever it was changed almost all humans into Pokemon in about a few seconds. We observed that humans who were there at night were then suddenly asleep after their transformation. Those at daytime were still awake even after the transformation—which is why those in places like Kanto won't see news about those regions for at worst two weeks because immense chaos is already going on as we speak. Don't worry about it, though—to those who still have a hard time remembering, time is very slow here compared to the world out there."

"You've told us that a _lot _of times, Dialga," Jirachi whined.

"Please don't interrupt." Dialga immediately turned to the small Wish Pokemon. "This is very serious, as all of you will see why."

"To the more important matters, then," Palkia continued. "Not all humans are now Pokemon. Only _almost _every human is now Pokemon." Palkia, like Dialga also seemed unfazed by what had happened minutes ago. "As of now, we can not exactly see what those remaining humans are doing, but it doesn't seem to be very good reasons even from the very outset of this event. I only saw a few, so don't automatically expect that the next human you'll see means harm and wickedness, but I warn you now to be wary of any human that you see from now on. Monitor them, even. Many of that small amount of people may use this for their own evil purposes."

"But you could be wondering about what happens to those who _did _become Pokemon," Dialga continued on. "Well...it depends. I am not exaggerating when I say that literally billions of humans are no longer humans. They're now Pokemon. They have to get used to their new senses and new instincts and new natures as Pokemon. They did not expect it, so it's a very unwelcome surprise to them. It does not help that we did not expect it either. We did not even see this coming. Much of the blame could be put on ourselves for neglecting to watch out for these events—unless whoever did it was extremely clever."

"And in addition to that," Palkia appended, "much chaos is going on already in half of the entire world. We expect that the chaos would not die down a bit—so it's a blessing to us all if we can minimize the pandemonium going on. However, we have to act as soon as possible or else they will start killing themselves in confusion.

"On the other hand, we also have to be cautious. Obviously, there will be those who will use this entire event to further their evil causes and gains. Amazingly, various organizations such as Team Rocket and Team Plasma have not been spared from these transformations."

"Only time will tell how fast they will adapt to the circumstances and how fast they will be back to their normal operations," Dialga added. "We have to watch out for groups like them, too.

"Nevertheless, let me get to my next point: Palkia said it before and I'll say it also that we have to minimize the chaos that is happening right now. All of you are different, so go help those who really do need the help—and do it your own way, as long as it will help them. And all of us, including all other living Pokemon who were Pokemon from birth, can bring those people...or those Pokemon to safer places and we can bring them away from the chaos that this strange light has caused. Think of it as a worldwide rescue mission—because it _is_. In fact, the stability of the world depends on the success or failure of it since the humans already incorporated themselves so much to the history and life of this world."

"And if we fail and somehow the world becomes desolate because of it?" Groudon asked, raising his hand.

"I do not know," Palkia answered solemnly. "I have some possibilities in mind, but all of them are undesirable—we're not supposed to stay away from our purposes. We _need _to help them."

Silence was there for a very short moment, dotting the emergency speech like an indention in a small book.

"What about Arceus, then?" Mew asked.

"None of us know," Dialga responded. "As you may well know, Arceus has chosen not to reveal himself to us as was usual before." Then, he looked as if urgent news came to him. "Strangely, Arceus chose to do so just exactly two weeks ago. It is as if the Alpha Pokemon knew that this would happen even weeks and perhaps even months before. But, I am at a loss to why Arceus did not stop such an event like this—even further, he did not even inform us about anything related to this event."

"I am very sure that Arceus has his good reasons for allowing this to happen," Mewtwo said out of the blue.

"Actually, you made a good point, Mewtwo," Dialga remarked. "Let's not worry about the Alpha Pokemon. Now, I am very certain that Arceus has a very good point in allowing this catastrophic event to happen."

And so everyone stopped worrying about Arceus's "absence" among them. But the bright yet strange light still remained a worry in everyone's minds.

"We now dismiss you," Palkia declared. "Please do what you need to do. Help them. We will do what we have to do. Go, _now_."

* * *

Celebi appeared suddenly back in the Ilex Forest. Back at the shrine that was in the middle of that dense forest. He was back at the place that he called his home. He had not been here for days. Now, he was simply back. But now, he realized that everything else from now was not going to be that simple.

Like everything changed in an instant. Instantaneous. Because it all did.

He was thankful that it happened during the nighttime in the forest. According to Dialga, most, if not all the humans would be both Pokemon and sleeping.

The other Pokemon he saw in the forest were already out from their hidden homes; those Pokemon were still a bit confused by the sudden appearance of that bright light. However, they already sensed his presence and turned to see him, the legendary, Time Travelling Celebi. At once, they rushed to him and bowed down to him.

He _was _Ilex Forest's guardian and the guardian of forests. He had gotten used to the respect and divine-like honor over some time.

From the small group of bowed-down Pokemon, a Weedle asked loudly, "Did you see the glowing light just now?"

Every other Pokemon finally raised their heads from their bowing down.

"Yes I did," Celebi replied. "I had to go somewhere important after that. Powerful Pokemon like me having to meet up to deal with this light."

"Was it just solar flare?" an Oddish asked.

"It's not a solar flare," Celebi responded. "It's a lot more serious than all of you have thought."

"Is it bad?" a Pidgey said in a fearful voice.

"They said it's not just bad. I think it's very horrible and I have to see what the light has done. I have to see it with my very own eyes."

Before that Pidgey could ask another question, Celebi flew into the air and floated his way through the clouds of the dark sky. He went his way but not for too long. The place he was going to, the place he had to see _now_, was Azalea Town. Ilex Forest was very near it, but he still went fast with some hesitation. On one hand, he wanted to see it. He wanted the deed to be done as soon as he could do it. On the other hand, he also wanted to delay in seeing it. If ninety-nine percent of all humans in the world were now Pokemon, that obviously covered a lot of people.

Bugsy, the gym leader of Azalea Town, would already be a Pokemon. And asleep. He would probably be a Bug-type Pokemon. Ash Ketchum, that aspiring young trainer he had met some time ago, would probably be a Pikachu by now, and whoever was travelling with him would already be Pokemon, too. All the gym leaders, the region's Elite Four, and even Lance, Johto League's current champion, would all be Pokemon.

The Pokemon professors would be Pokemon by now. How ironic it did seem to him at first. And, if what Dialga reported was accurate—and it should be—even all members of Team Rocket would already be Pokemon.

Then, Celebi saw Azalea Town. It was indeed what it was: a town. Not a city but a small town. Several buildings were here and there. Some of the lights were still on, but most of them were already off; it was already very late at night. It was surrounded by a lush forest, so there were indeed lots of Pokemon roaming around even at the borders of that forest.

Celebi quickly went in through Azalea Gym's doors. He had to see Bugsy.

The interior of the gym was dark. Trees and grass were there in that big gym. Bug-type Pokemon were sprawling here and there in the trees and on the grass. All the Pokemon there immediately looked at him. Then, Celebi realized that the gym was closed. Bugsy would not be here.

Ignoring his ability to even teleport, he quickly floated out of the gym. He did not want to enter any of the houses; he did not want to disturb anyone. But there were windows. He checked the windows of each house he passed by. Each window showed him a different room, but through some of them, he finally saw what the light did: Sleeping Pokemon on the beds. Few were on the floor of rooms other than the bedroom.

Then, he saw a house that seemed to stand apart from the others. There was a neat sign beside the front door. It read: _The home of Azalea Town's Gym Leader, Bugsy. _It was a humble description, but Celebi had no time to muse on about it.

He checked all the windows of the house. In the house there were many Poke Balls on the shelves and cabinet. In one room, a few Bug-type Pokemon were playing about on some sort of "grass-box."

Celebi then finally saw a double window. He rushed to it and looked through it. He just wanted to see it, although now he did not care why he had to see it so soon.

He bypassed all the other stuff in Bugsy's bedroom. He immediately saw his bed. Sleeping on it was not a human, but a Pokemon. A Scyther.

Celebi looked upon the sleeping Scyther that was once a human. He would wake up to an unpleasant surprise. Bugsy researched on Bug-type Pokemon—he wanted to do that; he never asked to become a Bug-type Pokemon.

It was enough for Celebi. He would see it all unfold by the morning.


	43. Further Still

**Chapter 42**

**Further Still**

_"The side I ought to take in social life, and politics, and everything else, is the side of righteousness." ~ Charles H. Spurgeon_

* * *

"It's for their good, Beatrice," Wallace said from behind her.

Beatrice turned around to see the Turtwig. "I hope you know what you are doing." Then, she turned back.

She saw many Pokemon exiting the Pokemon Center. Her look was upon them as they went out the double doors and into the bright outside. It did not surprise her that several and several more of them were carrying bags, packages and other containers. They had their items, foods and drinks but where would they go? The three places stated in Wallace's letters—this town, their homes or anywhere they wanted to go—seemed to be a great number of options. But in such times like these, where was a good place to stay?

"I also hope; I hope that they understand." Wallace looked on them, too. A lot of them looked back on him. For him, it was good that not a lot of them had a face or a look of anger or grumbling or even depression when they looked at him.

As he looked on them, he had to face one fact: He had not been ready to give that much. To give that much that early was bringing himself and his brothers and his closer friends much more burden then they had expected. Selfless people and selfless Pokemon would put down even their lives if that was it took to give and show their love of them—Wallace saw it as too much for him.

"And you had to do this early because?" Beatrice asked Wallace while he continued seeing them all go. "It's just a few minutes past five in the morning."

"I don't want to wake the others up." Wallace then looked back at the leaving Pokemon. "Come to think of it...it's a good thing a few of us actually wake up this early."

"You want to surprise them?" Beatrice asked further.

Wallace did not answer. Beatrice did not scoff him for his response. She may have only known him since yesterday but she understood that the camp was something that was close to him yet, in his mind, was ultimately a burden with souls, and it needed to be taken off from him.

He saw Ledas go. Ledas looked at the Turtwig. It was not a bad face but it was a somewhat caring face. Would she find her trainer or would she be trapped along with her later on? Wallace wanted to know, yet in spite of all the thinking that he had last night with the three poffins, it felt as if he had not thought much of it through.

He saw Cameron and his Ember. Wallace noticed that they were holding paws, as if they were more than friends and even more than trainer and Pokemon—it seemed as if they were lovers, even. It was a strange relationship that he saw, yet he might never know more about it.

He saw Gabi. Wallace had not much interaction with her. There was much observing on his part but not much on really talking with her or playing games with her or even spending some time with her on some other activity. Gabi, for all he knew, was a chess-playing, metal-music-loving Dratini who was a bit eccentric and twitchy. Yet, he would not see more of her.

He saw Catherine. He had not seen much of the Buneary lately. Seeing her sleeping at the flower shop did bring in a rude awakening for her. Yet, here she was. But, Wallace had to see her no longer; she was only known to him after the transformations, which disqualified her from being a close friend to him under his standards of being as such.

He saw Mackie, the free, unfettered, talkative Chatot. He would not be lying if he described Mackie as a heavy load to hear, but he did not dismiss his good qualities and positive personality. Yet, he might not see him no more—the Pokemon camp/station needed him no more, for the establishment itself was no more and needed nothing now.

He saw Rhye and Kenneth beside each other. Rhye, the ruthless Honchkrow, was the brutal disciplinarian of the camp, but Wallace did not see it as something bad. There _were _times when it got too cruel but Wallace did not see him as too cruel all the time. Then there was Kenneth, the poetic Nuzleaf. Kenneth may be a poet stuck with a rather peculiar speech impediment but it was unlikely for Wallace to hear the reason and the cause of it.

He saw Anne. He remembered the unwelcoming first impression Nicolas had with her. It did seem childish. He was even embarrassed that they had acted like that. But as the days went on, Anne became the Psychic of the group. Yet, Wallace had to let her go; he convicted himself that only he and his brothers and the friends and that he knew from before the transformations would be the only ones to stay.

There were more. Wallace remembered the stories he heard from them and he recalled the observations he made concerning them. The sobering aspect of sending them off then hit him lightly: He might never hear from them again.

But something else came to his mind. It was not another Pokemon that he would miss and probably not see again for the rest of his life. It was a question: How come they acted so childish and like young Pokemon early on? Did Pokemon like them mature that fast? Wallace knew better that Pokemon did not mature at such a quick pace. However, the thought persisted in his mind.

And then, the last one left. It was a cheery Pachirisu. She did not seem sad or even aware of the larger consequences of leaving the camp. But then again, the only thing she was holding was a can of carbonated coffee, as if her being an EleSquirrel Pokemon was not enough to make her hyperactive. Wallace could not remember her name but he knew that that Pachirisu was a girl. The only thing she said before leaving the place was "See ya and thanks, Wal!"

Perhaps it would be the only thing that he will remember from that Pachirisu.

There were moments of quietness. It was still a bit early in the morning but the sun was already rising and more visible. No human nor Pokemon came in during those few moments.

Then, Beatrice spoke up. "What are you going to do now, Wallace?"

"Let me think about it." He walked slowly on the counter, moving from one place to another then back to where he was, a little deep in his thoughts and thinking. "OK, the immediate goals I have in mind are these: One, the top priority is to get more used to being a Pokemon. Two, we plan to beat the rest of the gym leaders in this region."

"Really?" Beatrice was unpleasant at that goal. "I understand if the gym leaders are going to accept your challenge, but don't you have more serious things to do?"

"Strangely, the Pokemon League still allows us to participate in gym battles, even if we're Pokemon. Just look at us; Pokemon are now the ones entering the gyms, not humans."

"But what about the people who transformed all of us into Pokemon? It's not like they're just going to do all of that for fun. It could be the final step of their plan on world domination or whatever they have but it could also be the first step to something worse."

Wallace looked at the situation. She had a point.

"I'll think about that, Beatrice. Thank you for that; besides, goal number three was to look for any opportuntiy to find out more about whoever and whatever turned us into Pokemon."

"Haven't you thought about trying to stop them?"

"If we have the opportunity to do so, that is."

Beatrice sighed. "Look, Wallace. I beat some gym leaders here, participated in a couple of contests and I was even close to participating in the Sinnoh League Championship Conference. And how experienced are you?"

"We just got two gym badges, both of them from this region." Wallace would have also said that he also had some experience taking care of other people's Pokemon, but now it did not count as much to him. "I never participated in any contest because they're too girly for me."

"And your friends?" Beatrice asked.

"My brothers have practically the same experience as mine. My other friends were able to beat at least five or eight gym leaders but they never got past beating half of any Elite Four or the preliminaries of any championship league."

"Honestly, do you think you can take down whatever force is behind the transformations? On your own? I know the saying 'Never give up' and I know that you are ambitious in trying to fulfill those goals, but don't you think you're going way too ambitious for some Pokemon like you?"

"We're about fifteen together," Wallace insisted. "We can do it together, I assure you."

"Sorry to burst your bubble, but—what do you call this?—your priorities. It's either the gyms and the Sinnoh League or it's figuring out whoever is behind the transformations. I can't see how you can do both at the same time and still win on both of them."

"Beatrice," Wallace assured somewhat, "we can do it."

Beatrice looked at Wallace for a moment. "That's your choice now. If you still want to do both of them, go ahead. You're a nice Turtwig and your friends are nice, too—at least when they're not horsing around like teenagers on Friday night. However, I don't want to make this harder for any of us, OK? And don't ask me to help you in whatever you want to do because I'll be the nurse here."

"Then that's that," Wallace remarked. "See you later."

Then, he hopped down the counter and made his way back into his room.

* * *

"Morning, everyone," Mark yelled groggily as he stretched his arms, still tired from the sleep. He looked around and saw Wallace near the food bag. He was eating a poffin.

"You're liking Pokemon poffins and you don't even know it, do you?" Mark teased as he went down from his bed and went towards his hungry brother.

Wallace felt embarrassed. He never before had a liking for poffins meant for Pokemon; as a human, he did not even dare to do it, thinking it might poison him. But it was only now that he fully realized one part of the change that was already taking place inside him, albeit an embarrassing part of it.

"Heh..." Wallace blurted out. "It's just another kind of poffin; we're Pokemon, anyway."

"I agree with you," Mark said. Then, he grinned. "Give me one of those poffins because I'm not immune from it."

"Oh haha, you finally admitted it," Wallace coolly remarked. He poked his head around the inside of the bag, biting a plastic wrapper. The wrapper was pulled out along with the poffin inside and it landed on the floor.

"You're the one who has actual hands," Wallace told; "open it."

Both of them smiled. As Mark slowly ripped the plastic wrapper, he said "Ever since we got turned into Pokemon, it looks like that we can't find time to get together as brothers. And don't we have a lot of Pokemon to round up for the morning?"

It was that moment. Only Wallace knew that the camp was disbanded. And with that, everything seemed to change in measures of instants. How could he tell it to Mark?

"We don't need to round them up this morning?" He chose to build up to it.

"What do you mean 'We don't need to round up this morning?' Are you giving us the day off or something?"

"It's kind of like that, except..."

"Except what?" Mark interrupted.

"I decided to do away with the morning round ups, Mark. We don't need to gather them for the morning anymore for the rest of...until it's done."

"Boo!" Dave exclaimed loudly.

"Wah!" Mark and Wallace both yelled in surprise.

"So, how's it going?" Dave asked. "What are you talking about? And I'm watching you, Wallace."

"Did you make a bet with him?" Mark joked as his grin grew wider.

"It's something we talked about last night," Wallace answered.

"So you're saying you _did _make a bet with him?" Mark continued, snickering at his own joke. "What's it about? Who would win a race? Who were the contenders? Was it Arcanine versus or Ninetales?"

"Would you stop it already?" Wallace asserted. "It's something more serious than some imgainary bet you made up."

"Then tell me what was it," Mark said with a fake irritation. "Man, you're taking a long time to answer me straight up!"

Dave kept quiet through the small ordeal.

"It's about the camp," Wallace started. "I stopped the morning round ups for as long as the camp stays alive—because I'm finished with the camp."

"Wait, wait, what?" Mark uttered out. "What do you mean? You want to get rid of everyone who is part of the camp?"

"I already did that," Wallace said matter-of-factly.

"OK," Dave spoke up, "I wasn't really _that _expecting of you to follow my advice so quickly. What about the others? They're still sleeping and they're still thinking that hundreds of Pokemon will be there outside."

"Hey, what did you two talk about last night?" Mark raised. "Are you both tired and sick of handling the camp?"

"Not really sick of it, Mark," Wallace clarified. "It's just that if we keep on going like that, we may never get to the other gyms because of how many mouths we had to feed—and that's excluding the other stuff that we have to do with a lot of them while it still lasted."

"Where did you send them, then?" Dave asked.

"I wrote to them that they could go anywhere they want."

"'Wrote'?" Mark repeated.

"Had to use lots of paper," Wallace said. "We still have much of it left, though."

"Dude, are you acting OK?" Mark went on.

"I told you already; the camp became a very hard burden for me to carry. I'm sure all of you are getting a hard time with it, too; even our Pokemon, maybe." Wallace looked at their three Pokemon sleeping on the side of the wall.

"How did you wake all of them up without waking us up?" Dave said.

"Knocked on their doors and gave them one polite note to leave," Wallace answered. "I told many of them to leave quietly so they won't wake _you _up. And before you ask me why I did not want to wake you up, it's because I wanted only myself to see them go." Before Mark even raised his hand, Wallace interrupted, "And before you ask me why I wanted only myself awake while they left, it's because I made my choice while all of you were still sleeping. Had to keep it a secret until you woke up; bed attitudes are sometimes horrible."

"OK, you sent even the others, too, I guess," Mark assumed.

"Not really; the others left with us are Peter and his friends and his Pokemon, Frank and William and Clive, and Nicolas. That leaves us with sixteen of ourselves."

"You sent Catherine and Anne away, too?" Dave looked surprised.

"Yes, I _politely _sent them away," Wallace replied. "Even though they're nice and good friends, we only met them _after _the transformations."

"Come on, Wally," Mark complained. "Can't we make new friends? Because you've got to be kidding me."

"We may be too slow if we have way too many in our group of friends," Wallace stated. He walked towards the open door. "You want some breakfast outside? There's free berries. We'll deal with the little problem later."

Dave sighed. "OK, big brother."

Mark calmed down but he still followed jerkily. "I hope you _do _deal with it, Wallace!"

* * *

"Is everyone here, then?" Peter asked.

It was already afternoon. Packed in that room were "the sixteen." On the middle of the room was a pile of foods, especially poffin.

"Let me count," Peter announced. "OK, there's Wallace, Bodem, Mark, Neha, Dave, Aigua, me, Flame, Frank, Clive, William, Philipp, Mary, Leafy, Tody and Nicolas. We're all here."

"For lunch," William interjected.

"Yes, we're here for lunch," Peter told as he walked around the food pile. "Poffins, candies—but no rare candies—apples, drinks, berries, acorns, canned chow and some more. OK, that's enough with the introductions—let's eat!"

While many of them charged to the pile, trying to get the tastiest foods among the pile, Peter rushed up to Wallace.

"What do we do next?" Peter asked. "You already explained to us that you sent them away. We're the only ones left here. No camp or station or whatever to maintain. What are we going to do?"

"Beat gym leaders and stop the bad guys," Wallace said quickly; "I'll explain later." Then he rushed to the food pile, apparently in a dash to get some favorite food of his before anyone else got it. Peter, still curious about it, leaned to see what he was going to get. The hungry Wallace then came out with a couple of poffins in his mouth.

"That means later, right?" Peter rhetorically asked. He sighed as he went to the food pile to get whatever was there.

* * *

"Thank you for coming here!" Beatrice farewelled at the leaving group of Pokemon. "Please come again!"

"You're welcome!" Tody, Flame and Leafy yelled back. In Peter's mind, it was a bit of an embarrassment although he did not know why. However, it was also something comforting. The world may be very slowly breaking down because of the transformations, but at least Peter's Cyndaquil still said "You're welcome!' and still remained optimistic.

_They've never seen what we humans have before all this happened, _Peter thought. It felt cheesy thinking about what humans were capable of doing; it felt like he was fast forwarding through a children's documentary of humans. Peter thought about Flame's optimism through the six years Flame had with him as his trainer and Flame as his Pokemon.

Then they walked out of the Pokemon Center.

The sun was already beginning to set. There were some Pokemon here and there but not that many. Of course, they saw no humans anywhere in the town. For an aftermath of the "miracle day" that was supposed to bring the world into unmeasurable chaos and discord, what they saw and what they felt around them did not seem right. Instead of Pokemon going crazy and firing off beams of fire, water and lightning here and there in cacophony, there were Pokemon that lived as if they already knew how a Pokemon's life was lived out.

Nicolas noticed it. "Just a question, guys," he said, interrupting whatever conversation the others had.

"Tell it," William responded.

"We could talk about it more after we settle down but...how come no one's burning towns or stealing stuff from some store or—"

"I saw it, too," Dave interrupted.

"Maybe it has something to do with the 'thing' that transformed us," Wallace suggested. "I find it strange that whoever wanted to turn almost every human in the world into Pokemon decided to keep everything more calm. And how come the group that came up with that is not even trying to capture any of us?"

"Then they're trying to confuse all of us," Neha raised. "Don't you think that sounds a lot like an ambush? The prey thinks he's safe, but then comes the predator."

"You're—" Wallace began.

"Right, Neha," Bodem interrupted. "So we must be on our guard at all times."

"Isn't that rude?" Mary said sharply.

"I don't mind, Mary," Wallace replied. "We're on the same level, anyway."

"OK, where are we _really _going?" Dave asked.

"Veilstone City," Wallace answered.

"_Another _gym battle, I guess," Mark said.

Wallace nodded.

"Can we focus on more important matters now?" Aigua retorted. "Like stopping whatever evil force is behind this?

"Let's hone our skills while we wait for them," Wallace answered.

"Aren't _they _supposed to wait for _us_?" Aigua answered back as they walked.

As they walked out of Celestic Town and into Route 210.


	44. Veilstone City

**Chapter 43**

**Veilstone City**

"_It is said that in some countries trees will grow, but will bear no fruit because there is no winter there."John Bunyan_

* * *

Philipp woke up. He looked up. The sky was grey and rain was falling from the clouds. _How many days has it been? _he asked himself. The Totodile looked at his hands which were not really the hands that he knew for so long. Counting the days and nights, he finally reached the answer: Ten. Ten days. This was day number ten after the transformations. _So far, _he thought to himself, _nothing seriously bad has happened to us. I can say that's good progress._

"When is this going to end?" Mark complained from the shade of a nearby tree. "I don't want to faint or die now!"

_And then we have this, _Philipp though snarkily. _We're still at risks everyday. And it appears more often with each passing day, yet I bet we don't even care much about the risks sometimes. _He looked at the others; most of them were still asleep. Only a few were already awake; even then, only those who were not Fire-type Pokemon went outside for whatever reason they had to go outside. The Fire-types stayed under the shades—unless they wanted to get hurt, maybe even badly.

"You're awake!" Mary and Leafy exclaimed together.

"You don't have to state the obvious," Philipp snarked. "Of course, I'm awake. Can't you see that?" After a groan, he continued, "Actually, I think I'm the only one here who has _not _gotten used to the pappy-dappy of young Pokemon."

"You don't have to be such a bedhead, Philipp," Mary replied. "Besides, it's not your fault that this happened to you."

"That just makes it worse," Philipp retorted.

"At least try to act like it will get better," Mary answered back. "We've been through a lot together, right?"

"Not anything like this," Philipp blurted out. "I just want all of us to be human again before I go crazy."

"You mean 'happy'?" Mary insisted.

But Philipp did not respond back. Mary and Leafy took it as a sign that he did not want to talk to anyone right now. So Mary stopped trying any further.

Philipp looked around him. Not only was there the grey sky and the moderate rain, but there was also a sort of atmosphere in it. He had been outside for days several times in his journeys as a human. Granted, he could not remember sleeping outside while it was raining, but it was still familiar. But it was as if he came back to a familiar place as a stranger. Then again, in this situation, every friend of his has become both a familiar and a stranger at the same time.

_Why do they have to do this, anyway? _he asked himself silently. _If they could just destroy everyone already, why can't they just turn us into _actual _Pokemon with no restraints? Maybe they're doing this to hurt people like me; using sheer happiness as a weapon against me._ The thought then became absurd to him but in his head, it still made some sense.

"Are you OK, Philipp?" Tody asked cutely from behind, startling his trainer.

"No," he simply replied.

"Why are you not OK?"

"I am...I'm just not used to this. I'm _still _not used to being a Totodile like you." Philipp tried to remain friendly to him; Tody was an innocent Totodile. Not completely innocent; the fun-loving Totodile was already experienced in battling other Pokemon, even other Totodile. But his fun-loving retained much of his innocence. Philipp did not want to lash out at him. _Not yet, maybe, _Philipp thought while Tody waited for his response.

"You're very happy much of the time and we both know it," Philipp continued. "However, I'm having a hard time being as happy as you are. You've been through many things, but I've been through stuff that makes your problems look like...I don't know, small problems? And I think a lot more deeply than you do and I've thought out things that you would not even want to think about thinking."

"Why not get used to it, then?" Tody asked.

_You _still _don't get it, do you? _Philipp wanted to say but it sounded too harsh for Tody.

"Anyone have an umbrella?" Dave called out. "Wallace says that we should get headed towards Veilstone already!"

Philipp looked at the Piplup. He looked up at the sky; it clearly was still raining. He could handle it with no umbrella—he was a Water-type Pokemon, after all—but what about the Fire-types?

"Already!?" Clive yelled. "It's still freezing out here and it's still raining!"

"You want us to die going there!?" Mark whined. "I don't want something pathetic as rain paralyzing me on the open!"

"We could get burned out, Dave," Peter pointed out. "Unless your brother could think of something; you tell him that."

"I don't want to go now!" Flame whined, staying close with Peter.

Philipp looked back at his Totodile. "Trust me; you _don't _want to know what's going on with me. Maybe when this whole problem is over, I'll tell you."

"But if you become a human again, you won't understand me," Tody replied.

"I'll try," Philipp said. He stood up. "Let's go."

* * *

"At least it's working for me," Mark remarked as they walked further on the wet, rainy Route 215. "I can't say that it's as good for the others."

"It's covering both of us," Neha commented.

Mark held in one hand a makeshift umbrella made up of leaves, twigs and tree sap. It was not as effective as the usual umbrella, but at least in Mark's view, it was good enough.

"Please don't step out of sync, Philipp," Peter pleaded as he and Flame walked under the umbrella in Philipp's grip. "Call me paranoid but I'm not taking any chances in the rain."

Philipp just pulled the umbrella a little lower in response.

Frank held the wooden umbrella over Clive's head as they walked along, with Clive being careful not to splash on any deep puddle.

"Have you ever seen the meteors at Veilstone City, Dave?" Nicolas asked, walking beside Dave.

"Nope; never seen them," Dave replied. "We just got here when the transformations happened, remember?"

"Well, I went there a few times and being in front of the meteor was very surreal for me. I heard some legends and myths about those meteors, so I was a bit afraid that the meteor might start glowing wildly if I touched it."

"I'll touch it," Dave said jokingly before he and Nicolas laughed.

"Yeah right, but I don't think you're supposed to touch the meteors," Nicolas stated. "They may have some sort of special element that could kill you in an instant."

"Has anyone dared to touch one yet?" Dave asked.

"Haven't seen anyone done it," Nicolas answered. "Yet."

"Aw, don't tell me you want to touch it, too!"

"If anyone's going to be touching anything dangerous," Wallace interjected, "it's going to be his own fault, so you better be ready to blame yourself if you get hurt."

"OK," the two said in unison.

"Hey, are we even close to Veilstone, yet?" Mark asked.

"Will you be patient?" Aigua answered back.

"But we've been walking for some time already," Neha said. "And I don't want to stay outside in the rain."

"You can complain to some Phione, if you want," Aigua retorted. "Just stay under the umbrella and you'll be fine there."

Mark and Neha groaned but they complied.

"At least I can stay out in the rain!" William said, as he jumped happily around the walking group of his friends, splashing water on them as he went on.

"Hey, you're already hurting me!" Peter shouted, with Flame cuddling close to him for cover.

"There's mud on me!" Leafy screamed. The Chikorita was already shaking herself to drastically get the mud off. The rain did not help her much, though.

"Stop it already!" Frank yelled. "It's your Mudkip-self that's trying to control you!"

"Calm down, everyone!" Bodem shouted.

Philipp silently observed the little trouble. Certainly, not one of them was going to get killed today. _Unless some mad Pokemon gets them first, _he thought. Sure, the region-wide—worldwide, even—situation was underwhelming. But perhaps Neha was right. Whoever started it all probably wanted the bigger trouble later. But, instead of some outside ambush attack, it seemed that perhaps _they _won't attack—until the Pokemon started attacking themselves when the Pokemon instincts kick into high gear. Then, when they realize it, it would probably be too late for them to save themselves.

_More blame and guilt on them._

"You're going off, Philipp," Tody said, snapping him out of deep thought.

Philipp looked around and he saw that he was already going away from the group. He quickly took hold of Tody's hand and walked back quickly to the pack.

The trouble had settled. William was not jumping around anymore; he was not splashing water, mud and muddy water on anyone. No one was complaining. _I just know it that it's going to happen again, _Philipp thought.

The trees were still on the sides of the wet route. Rocks and stones appeared here and there. At one point, they passed a sign that blared to them that Veilstone City was just this way. However, as he walked, he also saw that the trees were appeared to be getting more plentiful; he was certain that the trees were getting thicker with each big meter; he was also certain that he began hearing city noises. There were no honks but he did hear a lot of chatter and other noises that were undeniably urban.

And then, they saw a terminal. It was guarded by a couple of Growlithe staying under the overhanging roof of the short building.

"Finally, roof!" Mark exclaimed while he rushed to the terminal, leaving Neha in the rain.

"Don't you leave me here, you hothead!" Neha yelled at him as she chased him.

"Get back—" Philipp shouted at them.

"Hey, what are you doing here?" one of the Growlithe said as she tackled Mark, throwing him off his way. "We're the police, and we have the right to demand of you why you're here!"

"That hurts!" Mark whined.

"Hey, quiet!" Dave whispered loudly at him.

"Why are you all here?" another Growlithe repeated.

"Actually, we are here to go to Veiltstone City," Wallace replied.

Philipp, irritated, put his palm on his face.

"Don't play dumb with us, Turtwig," yet another Growlithe said. "Of course you're going to Veilstone City. Now, why do you want to go to Veilstone?"

"To fight the gym leader," Wallace answered. "And to also investigate further about the transformations."

"Are you sure?" that Growlithe asked. "That's a lot of Pokemon Maylene will be fighting for a day, unless they're just part of your investigation team. Is your group officially authorized?"

"No; it's not really an investigation group. We're just going to investigate together."

"And fight the gym leader in one day, is that what you mean?"

"Not really one day; I understand from you that it's going to be a lot of work for the gym leader."

"Are you sure those are the _only _reasons that you have for going to Veilstone?" that Growlithe asked. "Because since the transformations, the police departments has been crippled. For the time being, we can't just work mostly on trust."

"So, are those the only reasons you have?" the second Growlithe repeated.

"Yes, police officers," Wallace said.

"We're telling the truth," Bodem backed.

The three Growlithe looked at each other briefly. Then, one of them stepped away from his place.

"The other two will guard the terminal," he began. "But, I'll be watching you. Every single one of you, if I can. Even if you're all honest Pokemon, I'll still be watching you. Whether you're OK with it or not, it doesn't matter; it's safety protocol."

"Then we're OK with it because we have nothing to hide, sirs and ma'am," Wallace replied.

"I see that you're not carrying any bags or containers," the Growlithe said. "That just makes me less worried about you and I take your word. But I _still _have to watch you. Follow me."

The other two Growlithe stayed outside the terminal. The leading Growlithe went up the short row of stairs first. Wallace, Bodem and the others followed accordingly into the terminal.

For Mark, it was more than a good place. He rushed to the doors; the terminal had a roof.

* * *

The Growlithe was the one who led the wide line of Pokemon. Not one of the Pokemon said a word; they already had a police officer in front of them. For them, it was not a time to complain or to whine or to act like there was no authority.

The terminal was long but simple. It looked very much like a lobby. For the Fire-type Pokemon, it was a relief because there was a roof, which meant that rain would not pelter them there. At least until they got out of the terminal; the rain was still going strong and it felt like that it would last for some time.

There were a few couches on one side of the terminal. A long receptionist desk was on the other side of the terminal. Some potted plants were on the corners of the wall. An Ambipom was the only Pokemon behind the desk.

"Innocent?" the Ambipom said briefly to the Growlithe.

"Innocent," he repeated, giving the Ambipom a sense of relief.

"So," the Ambipom gestured to them, "you're passing by or planning to stay?"

"Pardon?" Wallace responded as he continued walking.

"Are you just passing by are you planning to stay in Veilstone for a while?" the Ambipom repeated.

"We're planning to stay for...two or three days, I guess."

"Just be careful out there, misters and misses," the Ambipom said. "There's a lot of good Pokemon there but Veilstone still has its rowdy bunch."

"We'll be just fine, miss," Wallace replied. He felt like waving at the Ambipom and he would have, had he not lost the ability to wave. It was a ghost feeling; almost like a slap in his face for not remembering it.

"Take care, then," the Ambipom told them.

Philipp looked at the Ambipom. She was smiling with a grin, of course. It brought to him an old customers' policy that he saw and heard so many times but solely meant: "Greet your customers with a smile." It annoyed him, but it was not a big deal to him.

"Have any of you been to Veilstone before?" the Growlithe asked, looking back.

"We haven't," Mark replied, gesturing to himself and to his brothers.

"Ah, it's a shame you haven't been here as a human," the Growlithe said as they got closer to the other end; "you can enjoy it while you stay." Then, he glared at all of them with a stern face. "But I'm still going to watch you. Con men also sport smiles on their faces."

"Don't you mean 'Con Pokemon'?" Mark asked, waiting for a laugh to sound.

"Watch your mouth," the Growlithe retorted.

He then put his snout at the double doors and pushed them open, hard. The doors swayed further and further until they locked in their places, now parallel to the walls. The view the doors revealed was a surprise to them; a complete contrast to the rural routes they had passed by. How come it was unsettling now?

In front of them was a short skyline, partly blocked by thick trees. There was paved, cemented road, along with the sidewalks. The trees lined the sidewalks, giving the city a somewhat suburban look. The buildings were there, housing different kinds of uses. But what seemed to be the most unusual element of it was the many Pokemon that they could see. Despite the rain, there were flying Pokemon going from wherever to wherever. The Pokemon on the ground were talking with each other, walking, running, standing, waiting for whatever they were waiting for, eating, drinking, going in and out of buildings. As if Pokemon were the ones who founded this city, not humans. It all seemed the usual business for Pokemon, and that was just on a rainy day like this.

_Nicolas, _Philipp thought silently to the Shinx, _you can start your "I told you so!" speech now. _But Nicolas did not.

Instead, he, along with most of the others, were amazed by the sight of it. Even though Nicolas had been here before, even though it was a familiar place to him, he was still amazed by it—not by the familiarity but by the Pokemon. It was a surprising sight to see an urban place raided with so much Pokemon that there were no humans to be seen.

And then, there was the atmosphere of normalcy. There were not as many happy faces he could see as it seemed at first. But, in his mind thinking about what should have been, the city should have been at least a little savaged and ravaged by now, with Pokemon going here and there taking advantage of whatever new abilities they got for themselves. Store windows should be broken and products that used to be on the shelf were not supposed to be on the shelf anymore. But Nicolas saw the exact opposite: Store windows were _not _broken. The products and cans and packages were _still _there. It all seemed like a nice day when it should not be a nice day.

Nicolas kept it all to himself.

"Why does it still have to rain?" Mark complained.

"I'm a Fire-type, too," Growlithe replied," and I did not create the rain, so you better stop it."

"Any idea where's the chocolate store?" Clive asked cheerily, not minding the rain.

"You sure you don't want a small tour around the city?" the Growlithe asked back. "In any case, don't you have a gym leader to fight? You have to go there early if you don't want to finish late. And stay as close to the buildings as possible if you don't want to get wet."

"I like to get wet!" Tody shouted. Then, before Philipp could even grab him, Tody started running a small circle on the road.

"Hey, get over here!" Philipp demanded.

The Totodile ran back to his trainer, splashing water along the way.

"Come follow me," the Growlithe commanded. "I'll lead you to a café near the gym. And don't splash water on me."

So they followed.

And as they followed, the scenery slowly and subtly changed but it was still Veilstone City. The main intersections and crossroads were filled with Pokemon. Nicolas was relieved that it seemed better there. In those places, there was a sense of fear and a sense of distrust for many. Several Pokemon even showed it by their faces. He did not want it—certainly, too much distrust was a bad thing—but it was a kind of relief to him. It irritated him that everyone were too happy.

Past the intersections, past the few parks here and there, past the large corporate buildings, there was a building that stood out. It looked a bit old and a little antique compared to the many modern-looking buildings in the rest of the city. The stone pathway led from the old gate entrance into the building; it looked like a large dojo. "You know, one of those places where they practice karate and kung fu?" the Growlithe had said. "Except no one practices karate or kung fu here, at least not anymore."

As they sat by the terrace of the café across the street, they looked at the building.

"So this is Veilstone Gym?" Mary asked.

"I already told you," the Growlithe replied. "This is Veilstone Gym. And I also told you that Maylene is the gym leader of Veilstone Gym. Do you really need me to remind you all the time?"

"Look," Wallace began, "all we need to know is if Maylene is there and if we can fight her now?"

"May I want to know why you want to fight her for the gym bade?" the Growlithe grilled. "People—Pokemon, I mean—don't just come in and out of that gym. You have to be sure you can take the battling in there; she's not someone you can usually beat in your first try."

"We beat our first two gym leaders here on our first try," Mark responded.

"Beginner's luck," the Growlithe snorted. "If it's Roark and Gardenia, I understand. They're not hard to defeat compared to Maylene. Now back to the question: Why do you want to fight her and get the gym badge?"

"Because..." Wallace began, stammering, "because I and my brothers are just starting out as Pokemon trainers, and we would like to defeat her to get our third gym badge."

"Because?" the Growlithe repeated.

"Because we need all eight of the Sinnoh gym badges to be able to fight the Elite Four, right?"

"The reason why I'm asking you that question is because...you're a Pokemon!" the Growlithe pointed out. "There's a huge difference between a human and a Pokemon; all of us know it. You may say that it's OK to join in the League because no one's a human anymore, but what about your basic needs? And since you seem to be around, let me guess, fifteen or sixteen years old, you probably don't even know how to maintain a small house as a human, let alone keep up a Pokemon living."

"We live in the apartment at Jubilife City," Dave began, "the Johto Pokemon have their home at Johto, the Hoenn—"

"You're missing the point," the Growlithe interrupted. "But, I'm just a police officer, not the mayor. I'm not going to do some motivational speech in order to get you _not _to go to the gym 'till you're ready. If you go, that's your choice. But I'll still follow you and watch you."

"Isn't that stalking?" Neha blurted out.

"It's not stalking if the 'stalker' is part of the police," the Growlithe answered gruffly.

"We'll fight Maylene," Wallace decided without hesitation.

The Growlithe sighed at the speed of the statement. "I'll lead you inside."

* * *

The inside of the Veilstone Gym looked like the inside of a dojo. The walls were made out of dark wood. Very thin sheets of papers served as panes on the walls. Green carpets covered much of the wooden floor.

Then there were the fighting mats on some of those carpets. Several Pokemon were fighting each other on those mats; most of those Pokemon were Fighting-type. The sounds of grunting, heavy breathing and shouts were loud in the gym. There were Machoke, Hitmonlee and Hitmonchan, a Gallade, Medicham, and even some Timburr. A few of them took notice of the Pokemon entering the gym; the rest of them stayed focused on whatever battle they were in.

"Who's going to battle, anyway?" the Growlithe asked as he and the rest of the Pokemon following him walked. "There can only be one challenger per gym battle here."

He heard only murmurings from them.

"Tell me when we get there," the Growlithe settled.

Then, they continued walking. They walked past hallways of green carpets and fighting mats and battling Pokemon. Each battle that they passed by took some of their attention. They _were _good, and that was not yet the gym leader. Finally, they stopped at a dead end, where the wall on the opposite had slightly bigger paper panes. The only other Pokemon in that room was a Riolu.

"Do you seek the Gym Leader Maylene?" the Riolu asked.

"Yes," Wallace replied; "in fact, one of us plans to fight her for the gym badge."

"That would be me," Dave said, raising his flipper.

The Riolu looked at the Piplup intently. "If you were to fight her today, I do not have high hopes on you winning at all against her. But then again, you still have a chance. You may enter."

Then, he moved a part of the wall.


	45. Come Together

**Chapter 44**

**Come ****Together**

"_It's unpopular to take a strong stand on anything (these days) except tolerance. "John Piper_

* * *

It came as a little shock to most of them. The Growlithe did not mind; he had seen it before.

Behind the wall was a large, open room. On the middle, covering most of the floor, was the fighting area. The area was made up of hardened soil; like clay but not really clay. White markings were laid out symmetrically on the grounds. Surrounding the fighting area was the "sidelines" area, made up of a wooden floor and dotted with wooden pillars; it was where others would watch, if there were any others. Now, there were no others in the room, save for a Meditite and a Machoke—the Meditite reminding Wallace of Anne; it was a feeling of a harmonized past. The only Pokemon there fighting were two Lucario, fighting each other. The fighting was loud and it seemed to them as if an injury was a step away, but they did not stop. They were experienced Lucario. But one of them looked a bit different. A white strap of some sort was on that Lucario's snout.

"Is that Maylene?" Frank asked, pointing at the Lucario with the white strap.

"Yes," the Growlithe simply replied.

Immediately after that, the two Lucario suddenly stopped fighting. They both looked at the Growlithe.

"It's a challenger," the male Lucario said.

"I'm up for it," the Lucario with the strap replied. It was a bit cheery. "It's the Piplup, isn't it?"

"How did you—" Dave began.

"Aura," Maylene interrupted. "We're Aura Pokemon. We can sense the aura of Pokemon and every other living being. But sometimes I don't need to use aura to see who will fight me. And if you haven't guessed it yet, my name is Maylene."

The Meditite and the Machoke moved away from their places and went beside their trainer. The little group of Pokemon seemed neat for an introduction.

"So Piplup," Maylene started, "are you sure you want to fight me? You haven't evolved at all and...you're also _not _the usual Pokemon. You know what I mean. I also see that most of your friends are not the usual Pokemon."

The others looked at Dave.

"Yeah," Dave answered, raising his flippers in a surrendering pose, "I used to be a human; so are my friends."

"Of course; why would a normal Pokemon get a gym badge anyway?" She chuckled a bit. "I used to be a human, too, but let's get on with the gym battle; this is going to be exciting! We can talk about it later."

Her Lucario and other Pokemon moved to the sidelines; so did the Growlithe and all the rest of Dave's brothers, their Pokemon, and friends. Maylene went on one side of the fighting area.

"Don't get too cheerful," her Lucario said gruffly to the Piplup.

Dave looked at him. He was serious with his words. But Dave just ran to the other side of the fighting area. It was wide. It was big. Dave did not mind; the other gyms were like this, too, and he remembered it. Would he win? He felt nervous; he, an unevolved Piplup who only knew how to fight as a Pokemon for less than two weeks, was pitted against Maylene, now a Lucario who was already on par with her no doubt expert Lucario. The odds seemed low, but the sight of friends relieved him a bit.

The Machoke went to the middle of the room. Then, he shouted to everyone: "This is an official gym battle between the challenger and the gym leader! It will have one normal battle round. The challenger will go first. To win, either one must defeat the other. Yes, you heard that right! A valid knockout means a valid loss for the knocked out!"

Dave cringed. Had the Pokemon League announced something like this earlier? He only hoped that whoever made this up knew what he was doing. Looking again at his friends, he saw that they were also concerned. Concerned for him. Some of them looked at him.

But he remembered that Pokemon were knocked out a lot during battles and yet they were still alive. Fainting never occurred to him as long as he could remember and the thought of the sturdiness of Pokemon removed some of the fear, but the fright was still there. What if he was out for a long time?

"If you are worried about this, don't worry! We have a big stock of Revives, so when the loser faints, he will be back alive and conscious as soon as possible!"

It was a surprise of relief. Maybe Dave misunderstood fainting and getting knocked out. Too much fear over a small thing, maybe. However, the battling itself was still there.

"No cheating, no telling them what they have to do. Both fighters can take as long as they want, as long as they are not delaying the battle on purpose. Everyone got it?" Without even waiting for any of the Pokemon to reply, if they would, he continued quickly, "Then let the battle begin!"

After that, everything moved fast.

Dave immediately shot a swarm of bubbles at Maylene as the Lucario ran towards him. Maylene dodged all the bubbles, and, now surrounded in clear, white aura, charged herself to Dave with extreme speed. She hit him. Dave was knocked back outside the fighting area and smashing into one of the pillars and then falling down from it and into the hard, wooden floor.

"I know you'd like to cheer for him," Philipp commented, "but this is going downhill really quick."

Dave's friends already looked pitifully at him. Then again, this was the first _real _gym battle any of he and his brothers had. Maylene's Pokemon, on the other hand, just stood and watched—although each of them already had a tinge of care for the poor Piplup.

Dave stood up. Maylene retreated to the middle of the room, waiting for him to go back. She was in a fighting pose, gesturing her paw as if she was saying to him, "Come and get me!"

He ran at her and shot her with another speeding swarm of bubbles. Some of them hit her, but she seemed only a little harmed by the bubbles. She responded by quickly charging and firing blue balls of...whatever it was; Dave had no idea what they were made of but he did not want to even think about it. He had to dodge them.

"Those are aura spheres," Maylene's Lucario said to the watching group of Pokemon beside him. "I think you have not seen a single one before. Those spheres are made of aura that are projected, and then manipulated into energy solid enough to be used as a formidable attack."

Maylene then charged another aura sphere but she did not fire it. Not yet. The sphere was growing bigger each second. It was there when Dave realized what she was planning to do. And so he steadily grew a white sphere of energy around him.

"Oh no, you don't!" Maylene exclaimed as she hurriedly let go of the large aura sphere. It went flying towards the glowing Dave but instead of knocking him back as she expected, it surrounded him whole, turning the white energy into a cyan color of it.

"Take this!" Dave shouted as he forcibly released all the energy around him towards Maylene.

But it missed.

"Hey, that's not fair!" he complained.

"You didn't expect it to be _this _hard, did you?" Maylene retorted (politely on the field, somehow). She grinned...then she charged. Her red eyes glowed a creepy green, but Dave did not care much about it. He released another fast stream of hard-hitting bubbles at the incoming Lucario, desperately turning his beak left and right; it made the bubbles fly everywhere in the field and around it, with a few heading for the other Pokemon there on the sides.

"Can you stop doing that!?" Neha yelled at Dave as she and the others moved around hastily, trying to avoid the harmful bubbles.

Dave did not listen. It may have only been the first few minutes—perhaps the first minute, although he could not tell—but he had to admit it to himself: It _was _hard. It _is _hard. Movies he watched during his childhood days always showed the heroes winning in spite the odds; the possibility was real but everything in the movies went on as if the possibility was not. But this is not a movie; he may win but he may lose. He had to mentally hit it hard on his head as he continued spewing more bubbles at Maylene even though she had perfectly dodged every single bubble that he had fired.

He saw her spikes faintly glow white. The spikes looked sharp. _No, no, please don't slash me, _Dave pleaded in his head. Would Maylene sense that thought? Or, better put, the fear that came with it? But Maylene seemed to not care as she swayed her paws sideways past his torso. He reflexed and moved away; it was too late. No blood was there but the pain was, and it hurt a lot. Not as much as he expected—he was a _Pokemon_—but it still hurt a lot. He could still go on.

"That's gonna hurt," Wallace whispered to himself. Bodem just looked at the fight silently.

Then, Dave jumped at Maylene and started pecking her with his beak. Maylene blocked much of it, but the pecking was persistent. Even blocking the pecks was becoming a challenge as Dave went on pecking at her.

Maylene's Lucario saw it and he narrowed his eyes towards the attacking Piplup. He knew there was a disadvantage with so much pecking. It was too much of it. Beside him, some of Dave's friends were cheering "Go, Dave! Go, Dave!" In his perspective, the cheering would be a disappointment.

Dave then stopped pecking. Then he stopped jumping. He was panting. And tired from all the pecking.

"Told you," Maylene remarked before she moved her paws around as a trailing purple aura surrounded them.

Despite feeling tired, Dave started running at her again.

Maylene then speedily held out her paws. Between them, a bone made up of some kind of glowing light blue energy—as far as Dave knew—appeared magically. Then, Maylene bashed Dave with the energy bone, beating him up. Once. Twice. It felt as if the end of the battle was near—and he felt like fainting. _Not a good sign, _Dave thought panickedly. He had entered with no solid plan (_bad sign_), perhaps underestimated the power of Lucario, Maylene in particular (_bad sign_) and did not think much about pecking her endlessly, ignoring his own strength as if he had unlimited stamina (_bad sign)_. _Bad signs, _he thought. He felt heat. Therein was the idea.

The Piplup was now down. He stayed down. Maylene walked back slowly, keeping watch on his movements. Dave's brothers, his friends and Aigua were all focused on the downed Piplup. Would he stand up or did he faint already? His eyes were closed; they could not tell. Maylene's Pokemon were also focused on that Piplup. Her Lucario saw Dave's aura; the black appendages on the back of his head slowly rose, detecting whatever Dave's aura was—and he knew that it was all a bluff. He did not call him out, though; the gym battle did not need to coached that way. He knew that it should not be. Her Meditite also saw that Dave was bluffing and that he was also not really down; she kept quiet, too. Machoke was just waiting for him to either get back up or to keep being down.

Maylene would have known it, also, if she was not excitedly thinking so much in her head that this could be it.

Dave suddenly spurted out a large stream of hot water at the unsuspecting Lucario. Water splashed here and there around the field but much of it hit Maylene, sending her flying to the border of the area. She was wet all over—not to mention being doused with steaming water everywhere.

"OK, what just happened?!" Nicolas exclaimed. And the others were surprised, too. Even Machoke was genuinely shocked at it, having expected Maylene to validate (in some way) that Dave had fainted. Maylene's Lucario did not smile a bit at it.

Maylene then stood up, boiling water dripping from her paws, her head, her tail and all the rest of her. "I'm not done with you yet, Piplup!" she shouted. She still looked cheerful.

Dave looked cheerful, too. Tiredly cheerful, that is. He stood there and did not move from his place as he looked at Maylene, as he anticipated any kind of attack she might come up with.

Maylene then ran at him. Like him, she was determined to win. Unlike him, she was not even close to fainting; she was hurt but not too hurt. She jumped, aiming for the Piplup.

Dave's flippers glowed white. He waited for the incoming pounce and, with both of his flippers, struck Maylene on the head, sending her a little to his left. She quickly got up and punched him with so many fast jabs, each seemed to appear and disappear in a glimpse. He was getting beaten up again. She stopped, then Dave countered with another swarm of bubbles aimed for her.

"Why don't you stay still?!" Dave shouted desperately as he kept adjusting his aim to the fast-moving Lucario. "Come on and stay still! Stop moving!"

"What did you think?" Maylene teased. She dodged yet another bubble. "I'm not going to go easy on you!" With that, she lunged at Dave very fast; before Dave could see it coming, he was punched with a spike right into his shoulder, knocking him back again and flat.

Dave still stood up from it, staggering a little. He still wanted to win; it was made obvious by his persistence. Then again, it was a gym battle. The thought of giving up at such a time like this in such a battle like this did not even enter his mind. All he wanted to do was finish it. So he slowly walked towards Maylene seriously.

Maylene backed up in response, keeping a defensive pose as she did so. _You have a trick up your sleeve, Piplup_, she thought, sensing his aura. _This time, you won't fool me._

Suddenly, she lunged at Dave again at the same high speed. Dave quickly glowed in that white energy but Maylene hit him fast and hard with a full body blow. Dave, knocked back once more, stood back up and ran at her while he unleashed another strong stream of water from his beak. It hit and Maylene was almost sent flying again but she stood her ground, having a firm grip of her feet holding on to the ground.

"I can't believe the Piplup's still going," Machoke said. "Maybe he has a chance."

"He does," his friend, the Lucario, replied. "Not much of it. It doesn't matter if he holds on for hours; if he gives out, he loses." He crossed his arms, silently observing the battle; Maylene was now rapidly firing small aura spheres at Dave. The Piplup kept running, evading some of them but getting hit by several more. He could hear it now—"Dave, Dave, Dave," was the chant he could hear over the unusual sounds of the spheres. His friends were there but that would not guarantee his victory. Even so, it was an encouragement.

Dave spat up into the air a tall, thin fountain of water. The water then fell back into the ground as the tiny little droplets they became. Maylene just looked up and back at Dave who was wondering if it did anything at all.

"Did that set you back?" Dave asked sheepishly.

Maylene just shook her head. She started running at him again. Dave started running at her, too; desperately, he opened his beak and released yet another spray of bubbles at the incoming Lucario. Surprisingly, she did not try to dodge the bubbles. Most of them struck her and she did wince but she kept on going, still running at the approaching Dave. He then lunged headfirst at her, yelling as he went in mid-air. The sudden noise made her flinch; Dave collided with her, blocking her face but still keeping a grip on her.

"Stop that!" Maylene shouted, trying to pull Dave off from her head.

Dave felt a little excited as he pecked at Maylene's reaching arms. He finally had some definite control again. The harmonic chant of "Dave, Dave, Dave!" coming from his friends welcomed the moment. Meanwhile, Maylene felt the annoying pecking on her head. Although hindered by the pain of it and being not able to see, she finally got a quick hold on him. She tilted him fast, hurting him with the spikes on her paws. Dave was then thrown down hard to the ground.

"Harsh on him..." Mary said.

She looked at Dave. He was down on the ground again. Did he really faint this time? He already took much of a beating and of the battling. Many Pokemon—even unevolved ones like Piplup—did have much more stamina than most humans, but that stamina was lost fast in a battle, faster when it's in the hands of the eventual loser. Another brine surprise would almost be a miracle—it took up much energy. Sure, Dave could do it once but under this much damage, his state made his friends worry. Would he even get back up? Or was the pain too much for him to take? Couple that with reduced stamina and it's very likely that Dave was truly down—knocked out.

Dave struggled. He put a flipper on the ground and then the other as he tried to push himself up. He plopped back lying on the ground. He mumbled something but it was too quiet for even Maylene to hear it. Dave then tired climbing the ground with his flippers and he did move a little. But he was tired and then stopped.

Maylene sensed the Piplup's aura. The receptors on the back of her head began to rise slowly. She was deep into it, the process, and her eyes were closed. Then, the black receptors drooped. Her eyes opened. She quickly looked at her Machoke. Her Lucario slowly nodded. Her Meditite had a little smile on her face—a smile that seemed to quietly applaud the end of a battle. Not a good sign—at least to those in the room who had rooted for Dave the whole time.

"Let me get the Revives," the Growlithe blurted out suddenly as he went running out of the room. Another bad sign to them.

"If he's fainted, at least he's not dead," Philipp said. "We've seen plenty of Pokemon come back from the so-called 'dead,' so don't worry."

"Would you at least be a bit nicer, Philipp?" Peter asked sharply.

"Just stating the fact," the Totodile replied. "You seem too personal about Pokemon that you don't realize that fainting is not the same as dying."

The Machoke walked back to the fighting area. He stopped between Maylene and the down Dave and stayed there, facing Dave's friends and the rest of Maylene's Pokemon. If Dave had planned another surprise attack at Maylene, now was his last shot. But he stayed there. He stayed still. Machoke inspected the Piplup, moving him here and there and holding him upside down. Dave did not react nor did he even open his eyes.

Wallace hoped his brother would just stand up and say that he's too tired to continue. He silently shook off that hope; it was just a knock out, a fainting. He knew it. The others knew it, too, so they were supposed to not cry or beg over it as if there was no hope. They did not.

"The challenger is no longer able to fight anymore!" the Machoke announced and shouted. "The winner is the gym leader, Maylene!" He raised his arm high towards Maylene. The young gym leader broke a little smile; she won another challenge against her. Her Meditite and her Lucario clapped alone. No one on Dave's side clapped; though Maylene did a wonderful job, there was one thing on the minds of most of them: Dave. On Wallace's and Mark's minds was also another thing: the gym badge.

Maylene ran a little to her Lucario. He was nodding again, this time with a bigger smile. She let out a small, cheery laugh. The scene was homely. It would have been to the others had Dave was not so much of a worry in their heads. Thinking about the gym badge that got away did not help any of them at all.

Then, Maylene walked to them. They looked at her approaching, she having a somewhat worried face. "It's about the Piplup, isn't it?" Maylene asked. "What's his name?"

"It's—" Mark began.

"Dave," Maylene interrupted with a growing grin on her face. "I read your mind. Sorry if I get too 'searchy' with you; I'm trying a lot of...being a Lucario. It's still a surprising experience for me and it's the same for you."

"You can say that, Maylene," Wallace replied. "But what about Dave? Is he going to be OK? Because he's my brother." He knew that Dave would be OK; the unusual worry kept nagging at him.

"Typical," Maylene commented. "The beginning Pokemon of the region turn out to be siblings; can't blame you for anything, but it's nice that you're...what d'ya call it? Both brothers and starters."

"Too big for a coincidence," Wallace remarked back. He thought about it: He, Dave and Mark were brothers; they began their rather short lives as Pokemon trainers at the same time; they each got one of the three different starter Pokemon of the region; they had about the same experience in training Pokemon, which was not much; they were transformed into the same species as their first and only Pokemon, which turn out to be Sinnoh's three starter Pokemon; they now have their respective Pokemon with them, looking virtually identical with each—

"About Dave, he _is _going to be OK and all right," Maylene spoke up. She looked intently at him. "You're thinking a lot about you and your brothers and how you have some harmony of stuff going on...Wallace."

"You brought it up," Wallace politely shot back.

"Can you think of my favorite number?" Leafy called out.

"You don't have one, Chikorita," Maylene answered immediately.

"Argh!" the Chikorita whined. "I thought you'd fall for that one!"

Maylene let out a bigger smile at her. She suddenly widened her eyes. "There's Zack."

As if on cue, the Growlithe ran out of the room's only doors, holding with his mouth a small plastic bag of small little, plain diamond-shaped medicine and slightly bigger, plain, spiky medicine. It was a pack of Revives and Max Revives. He carelessly threw them to the ground. "Now we have the stuff," Zack, the Growlithe, announced.

"That's it," the Machoke said. He went to the bag, picked a Revive, and went to the faint Dave.

Maylene, her Lucario, her Meditite, Zack, Dave's brothers with their Pokemon along with Aigua and some of the others went a bit hurriedly to the knocked out Piplup. Worry, concern and plain curiosity were there. The others who stayed behind watched from their places, talking about what it was that they were talking about there. It was not going to be a fancy or dramatic picture, but to most of them it was worth seeing. Perhaps it was that something different when going through the same experience as a Pokemon instead of as a human. Maybe it was closer—the bond, the feeling, whatever it was.

"Don't get too excited," the Machoke said as he slowly opened Dave's beak and put it in the little diamond of a Revive. He quickly retreated. Five seconds. Three more. Then eight more.

"Is it working?" Nicolas asked.

Machoke looked at the clearly-concerned Shinx. "It's just taking some time—"

Dave slowly opened his eyes. "That was one big ride," he said. "Why are you all standing like that in front of me?"

"We were worried about you," William answered.

"I'm still OK as ever, guys," Dave replied. "Just a little exhausted, that's all."

"But you lost," Wallace said matter-of-factly.

"Yeah, so what do you—oh, come on! Hey, Maylene, can I get the gym badge for effort instead?"

Maylene looked at the pleading Dave; she looked with a considerate smile as she thought about his request. She always seemed to smile. That seemed comforting enough—but it could mean a "No, Dave, I can't give the badge to you because you did not win the gym battle."

"Please?" Dave added, pleaded.


	46. Cobble

**Chapter 45**

**Cobble**

"_What then are we to do about our problems? We must learn to live with them until such time as God delivers us from them. We must pray for grace to endure them without murmuring. Problems patiently endured will work for our spiritual perfecting. They harm us only when we resist them or endure them unwillingly "A.W. Tozer_

* * *

She thought about it for a while. She faced her Lucario who also had a grin, although it was not that wide or noticeable. Then, seemingly without a cause, he nodded again at her. Maylene winked back with a smile.

"Let's get to know each other first," she said, heading for one of the walls.

"It's another hidden door, I know it!" Clive exclaimed.

"Yes it is, little Torchic," she replied. "I really want to know all of your names, but that's just me."

Her paws gripped a wooden chunk apparently stuck in the wall. She pulled and the chunk—along with it, half of the wooden, paned wall—creeked to the side, revealing another room that looked much like all the other rooms in the gym. The only unique elements of the room were the presence of furniture—there was a large wooden table placed on the center of the room; the table was surrounded with at least a dozen antique yet simple, wooden chairs—and the presence of an actual door, not a square archway or a hidden passageway placed in the walls. Sunlight partially penetrated the thin panes, giving a bright illumination throughout the room.

She sighed. "Take a seat."

Some of the Pokemon there rushed for the chairs. Then, they stopped when they got there.

"We're Pokemon," Aigua finally blurted out. "The chairs are too high for us."

_Thanks for the information, Captain Obvious, _Philipp thought passively and almost said it but quickly stopped himself.

"He's not Captain Obvious," Maylene said to the Totodile, slightly surprising him. "Sorry about that but it's hard for me _not _to offer you seats even after I became a Pokemon." She turned to the chairs again. "So, we'll do this standing up. No worries."

She leaned down to one of the Piplup. "Dave, what I—"

"Actually, there's Dave," Aigua corrected, pointing at the other Piplup behind her; it made Maylene turn around and become a little shocked, gasping a bit. "I'm his Pokemon, Aigua."

"You better wear something, Dave, so others can tell you apart from Aigua," Maylene suggested. "What about a bowtie? They're cool on Piplup like you. You know, cool bowties."

"Heh," Dave let out.

Maylene then leaned down again, this time to Dave. "OK Dave, what I want to let you know is that...you were good. You must have some more training than I had thought you have. I've had a few gym battles with other Pokemon after the transformation day but when I saw you, I thought that you were ambitious but not strong enough. You got to admit: You _aren't_, but as a Pokemon, I never fought such a small Pokemon for so long a fight. And you were able to get me a few times—now, I have to think of ways to counter countless pecks."

Dave chuckled a little at that.

"The Pokemon League in Sinnoh may be strict but it's not too strict," Maylene continued. "It allows gym leaders to give a gym badge to a losing challenger as long as there is a very good reason for it. I talked with my Lucario for a bit—and it's through mind-reading, if you were going to ask—and he agrees with me to give you the Cobble Badge."

The Piplup's face lit up instantaneously. "You're kidding, right?"

"I'll go get you one," she assured. "Just stay there." Then, she ran to the only door in the room, opened it and went through it, letting the door close itself.

"Mercy victory!" Dave shouted happily, pumping his flippers into the air.

"She's doing it because you _did _a good job," the Meditite said. "But, it's also because it's still pretty early."

"So she only gives the badge to winners in the nighttime?" Bodem asked.

"Not that," she added. Everyone was now listening to her. "What I meant was that most of those like you, 'former humans' if you're comfortable with that, are still getting used to your new forms and lives as Pokemon. Maylene is not exempted from that condition; she _is _good and _is _learning fast but she also shows signs of not being all right in her current form as a Pokemon. That means that both the challenger and Maylene are disadvantaged by that. Because of that, she gives the gym badges with less conditions."

"You can call it her mercy," the Lucario said. "When the rest of you get better used to your Pokemon lives, when you get more mature in a Pokemon way, she will become more serious about it."

They heard the creak of the door again. It was Maylene; she was holding a little shiny badge with hints of orange on it. "Here it is, Dave," she announced to him. "You showed much persistence to fight until you really can't do it any more. For now, that's enough for me to reward you the Cobble Badge." She crouched to his level, still holding the gym badge.

Some of the others cheered a little. "That's Dave!" Mark yelled as Dave went to get the badge. He put his flippers around the badge, cupped it carefully, then lightly let it go from Maylene's paws. He stared at it with a sort of amazement and some achievement; his face clearly showed it.

"Glad?" Maylene asked. "Where are you gonna put that?"

"We're gonna put it in the—wait a minute." Dave slapped himself on the face in frustration. "Agh! We left the other gym badges back at Celestic! Someone could steal it!"

"We can get back there later on," Wallace said. Said rather calmly. "I'm sure one of the nurses took care of it already."

"But where will the badge go now?" Maylene asked.

Her Meditite tutted. "You were so excited to fight Maylene that you did not think about _where _you will put the badge? You really haven't thought that through; I'm sure of that."

"And with _that _many Pokemon on tow?" the Lucario continued. "At least one of you must have remembered to bring a bag or something like that."

"Go figure," Philipp said. "Welcome to how we get through being a Pokemon."

"But where will you put it?" Maylene repeated. "You can't just hold it everywhere you go."

"Looks I _have _to hold it 'till I get a can," Dave replied. "Or a plastic container. A basket will do, I guess."

"So, you managed to get the badge," Maylene said with that smile again; "do you need anything else? If you don't, then it's been a pleasure fighting you, Dave. You can walk home now."

"They aren't from here, Maylene," Zack chimed in.

"Where do you live, Dave?" Maylene asked.

"We got a room at Jubilife City," Dave replied. "And we just realized that we forgot much of our stuff at Celestic Town."

"I think that's too far for you to travel for the day," Maylene said. "If you really have no place nearby to stay, you can use the gym for a while. Have to agree with Lucario, first."

It seemed awkward to Nicolas. This was the gym leader yet she seemed to take a lot of orders and to ask a lot of permissions from her Lucario. Something personal? Something he could ask about now? To the Shinx, it was not the time—or maybe it was not something to ask about at all.

"He says that it's OK for all of you to use the bedrooms," Maylene said. "But not now; you look like you haven't brought any load. You can just, well, hang around here. Or, you can go and explore Veilstone some more—under Zack's watch, of course."

Zack cast a light glare at Dave and all the other Pokemon that were him. He then smiled.

"The rest of Veilstone," Dave said. "We'll see you later tonight, then, Maylene." He waved at her as he quickly rushed out the room, leaving the others there and either saying their goodbyes or already trying to catch up with Dave.

* * *

The sun had already gone beneath the horizon, but the sky still had a hint of orange and it was still very clear. The rain had stopped. Much of the rainwater had gone but there were still some puddles here and there. There were still a lot of Pokemon out on the streets and sidewalks of the city. Several of the faces they saw were those of happiness and some of joy; many others were of anything but clear happiness. The lack of any moving cars or even moving bikes was still a strange sight in such an urban area.

And then, Zack and the others passed by a peculiar building. The sidewalks seemed devoid of almost all Pokemon. The building looked slick with its dark and yellow colors. A yellow semi-circle went around the dome roof of the building. In the sight of many, it would have looked like another office or corporate building. The walls surrounding the edifice looked plain and simple yet dark. There were three glass double doors on the front; coupled with the rest of the structure's design and appearance, the doors looked like they were about to open by a shady man.

"That looks suspicious," William remarked, looking at the large, wide structure. "You want to check?"

"Meh, hungry," he blurted out with a groan. "Where's the dinner? I'm hungry."

One of the doors opened and four people went out wearing sleek silver outfits. Three of them had the same color of hair: Dark turquoise. They moved sneakily, attempting to avoid being seen by anyone. Zack abruptly turned around and tried to see the moving figures.

"Someone's there," Zack said. He stared at the suspicious establishment of a building. "It's not looking good."

"At least we outnumber them," Peter stated.

"You can't rest in numbers alone, boy," Zack said back. "I hear them approaching."

A Gallade appeared suddenly in front of the Growlithe. He immediately swung his arms rapidly, releasing bright blue rings of energy at Zack and the rest of the Pokemon. The pain felt white hot to them as they tried to fight back. Flames, water, grass and lightning went by from that side rather desperately. The Gallade glowed with an outline of green light. At the same time, his eyes also glowed a bright green. Then, all of the Pokemon glowed the same green. The ground slowly got farther away from them while Gallade stood firmly and still glowing green. They trashed and struggled to break free but they could not; they kept floating. They tried sending down fire and water and lightning and whatever attack they could aim at the Blade Pokemon but they were mysteriously deflected away from him.

Some Glameow, a Purugly and a Probopass were fast approaching the Gallade. They were the sight of help and saving for the trapped, floating Pokemon.

"Come on, get us out!" Flame shouted at the running and moving Pokemon.

When they were beside the Gallade, they made no effort to stop him. They just looked up at the floating Pokemon. Then, the floating Pokemon started to float closer to the imposing building. They struggled; shouts of "Help!" and a yell of "Stop this!" from Neha were there; they looked at the road to see if there were any bystanders there that could hear their cries of help, but there was none.

"Quiet!" the Gallade yelled at them. His glare was menacing. "You have already caused enough trouble!"

Dave began, "What do you mean?"

The Gallade did not answer. He looked at all of them; his eyes glowed a faint red. The Pokemon's eyes glowed red with him. "You stay quiet until the proper time," he said, still looking at all of them without blinking.

"I'm not going to stay quiet!" Nicolas shouted in the air. "I'm gonna...I'm..." he continued with a sloppier voice. His eyes fluttered.

"He's going to put us to sleep!" Clive exclaimed. "Keep the eyes open!" Yet, even he yawned after that, letting out a dazed "No, no..." He took a last look; everyone else was talking at the same time, trying to stay awake but failing; some of them were also yawning. Then, the Torchic closed his eyes and snored, lying down in the small psychic aura around him in the air; so were the others seconds later.

The glow in the Gallade's eyes disappeared. The faint outline of green aura around the floating Pokemon quickly but gently descended, moving towards the doors. Not one of them woke up or even showed a sign of awareness. They were fast asleep.

The four people with the silver outfits walked from behind the doors. Three of them walked behind the fourth one; the fourth had a different color of hair than the rest: a dark shade of blue. "So, you're the troublemakers," the fourth one said as the sleeping Pokemon floated towards him, his Gallade and the other Pokemon with him walking along with the dozing.

"Are you sure they're in deep sleep?" the fourth one asked.

"They are, Saturn," his Gallade answered psychically.

"Then please bring them in quickly," Saturn said. He turned to the three grunts behind him. "Everyone, follow me."

Obscured by some of the wall, the grunts, the commander and the Pokemon went in the building unnoticed. In their deep slumber, the floating Pokemon did not notice everything that happened after their eyes closed.

* * *

Wallace woke up with a groan. "What happened?" he moaned. He blinked his eyes twice and then his eyes widened at the sight of what was in front of him. It was a grid of hard, metallic strings. He panickedly looked around him; it was not an open space. At least Bodem was there with him, but the Turtwig was still sleeping. There was a door but it was not a way out now. He realized with terror where he was in: a cage.

He looked at his surroundings. It was a small room that had lots of spacious cages like his. It had one door; it was white with no window or any other way to see what was past it. What scared him further were the other Pokemon that were in the cages. They were all his companions—from his brothers and their Pokemon to Zack. Peter, Philipp and Mary were there, captive, along with their Pokemon. Frank and his friends were caged also, as well as Nicolas. He was caged on one of the top cages, giving him a high view of the room, but it only made him scared even more.

He turned to the clock on the wall. It was about a quarter until nine. Nine in the morning or nine in the evening, Wallace could not tell.

"You finally woke up," Dave said from the cage beside him.

Frank was sitting down. He climbed the cage, maybe looking for some way out. Peter and Flame were in the same cage, the former human trying to comfort the one who formerly had a human as his trainer. Zack was analyzing whatever it was in the room, looking here and there, mumbling to himself about something. Mark and Neha were angry, trying to shake their cage in frustration, shouting "Open this cage!" to the door. Mary and Leafy had faces of worry. Tody was asking Philipp to play a little game with him to pass the time. Clive just looked around, saying nothing. William talked with Nicolas, their cages just being beside each other. Dave and Aigua were in the same cage, the cage beside Wallace's. They were gripping the thin yet sturdy bars of their cage.

"What do we do?" Dave asked. "Any plan in your head?"

"No," Wallace answered. "No plan."

"Then start thinking one," Dave said. "Try to see if you can make the cage fall off."

"Cage doors can't be broken that way."

"Think of _something_, Wallace."

"Well," Wallace began, "we're Pokemon...trapped in a cage. What can a Pokemon do that can open a cage?"

"We can try cutting the bars open."

"How?" Aigua chimed in. "Splashing it with water won't help, and these cages are not weak cages so cutting it with your razor leaves won't work either."

Wallace gestured at Mark and Neha. "Burning the cages."

"I don't think you get the point," Aigua said. "This building looks like it's some sort of technology building or a fancy place where they store Pokemon. I'm sure the cages here are some of the best. It's not that easy."

"What about melting the cage with an electric discharge?" Wallace asked, gesturing at Nicolas.

"The Shinx may not be strong enough to even chip at the cage," Aigua answered.

"Or maybe we don't focus on the cage at all," Wallace said.

"What do you mean?" Dave asked.

"Maybe...maybe we try destroying the door."

"And what?" Aigua asked. "Attract the attention of the guards? There may be guards out there. I won't be surprised if it would set off an alarm, alerting _everyone _that there's a breach."

"Or maybe we'll just wait for the guards to get us and then we'll attack them at the right moment," Wallace suggested.

"Honestly," Dave replied, "it's worth a shot."

Aigua sighed. "Let's see, Wallace. Wait and see."

Dave and Aigua turned away from Wallace to whatever business was next in their minds. Wallace looked around him again. He gazed at Philipp's cage across the room. They were playing some rock-paper-scissors. Philipp's frustrated face indicated that he was on a losing streak.

The little game looked nice enough for a time passer. _Maybe Bodem would wake up soon, _he thought.

* * *

The clock showed that it was around half past nine. Everyone was awake. Whatever the Pokemon were doing stopped as the door suddenly opened. Everyone then looked at the open door. It was someone who looked familiar. Not the same person but the clothes and hair looked unusual. She was wearing a uniform that looked like something astronauts would wear. Her hair had a strange color of some strange shade of blue and very light green. On the chest of the uniform was a yellow, stylized capital "G" that was all too familiar.

_Team Galactic, _Wallace thought.

"Do you know her?" Bodem asked. "You look like you do."

"It's Team Galactic, Bodem."

"Commander Saturn wants to see your leader," the grunt said in a serious tone. "Who's your leader?"

Some of the Pokemon motioned to Wallace. Most of the rest just turned their heads and looked at the Turtwig.

"So it's you, the one in front." She took out a ring of keys. "Now, you stay still; don't fight," she said as she tried out the different keys, seeing which one was the right one.

"Did you get yourself in trouble?" Bodem asked.

"Lots of it," Wallace replied simply. "I'll explain later. Is it a good time to attack now?"

"What? You want to get yourself into more trouble?"

"Haven't you guessed that Team Galactic is not exactly a good group?"

"How do we escape a building we—"

"We'll figure that out later."

They heard a metal clang. The grunt had clumsily dropped the keys; she was now bending to pick it up.

"If we attack her now, more of them will come rushing in with _their _Pokemon. Besides, even if you knock her out cold with no one watching her outside, how will you get us free? You don't even have fingers."

"I have my mouth," Wallace replied simply.

"Are you ready?" Dave asked from his cage.

_Not sure, _Wallace thought.

"Will you keep quiet?" the grunt demanded. All the chattering stopped. "You must be a noisy bunch. Ah; here's the key."

She put one of the keys into the keyhole of the cage door. What seemed like seconds felt like minutes. Would Wallace attack or would he comply and not hurt the grunt? A clunk sounded; the door was unlocked. He considered quickly the consequences: If he would attack and even knock her out, how would he open the cages? Or what about the other grunts that could be just around the corner? If he got down again, where would he end up this time? Surely, not a better place than this. If he would just comply and wait for the right moment to strike, how would he know when? The "interrogation room," whatever it would be—maybe not much of an interrogation room at all—would somehow be protected well. It was very likely that Saturn had already taken precautions to make sure that the Turtwig would not get away that easily. But would Saturn just set him free after the talk?

While the grunt's hands whisked him away from his cage, he said to Dave, "I'll attack soon!"

"That's not the—" Dave started.

But the door closed on him. He was outside the room of cages. Outside the room was a hallway with metallic tones and metallic appearances. The walls and the ceiling looked a lifeless, cold gray blue. The tiled floors were a dark gray blue, too.

The grunt walked through the hallway, holding the Turtwig. As she walked, Wallace saw more of what the building held. There were more doors that were similar to the door he saw back in the room. Most of them were labeled; some of them he saw on the way were "Low Priority Archives" and "Transferral Room." One of them that made him gape was one on a door that seemed a bit out of place—the door looked like that it held a room that only authorized personnel were supposed to be in. The label was "Transformation Research." Wallace did not even ask the grunt; she would not understand him even if he tried.

Along the way, he saw a lot of people wearing virtually the same uniform the grunt was wearing—even up to the hair color and hairstyle. Some were in a hurry, some were taking their sweet time. Most of them clearly had a job to do. _How did you get back on your feet so fast? _Wallace thought. _Unless...you were here for some time and it's either you're too powerful or no one has noticed you. You're both._

He also saw machinery along the way. His limited knowledge of robotics did not help him to know what any of them actually did. Some of them had screens. Perhaps the machines themselves were nothing he had to worry about.

After minutes of walking, the grunt finally stopped at a door labeled with all big letters, "COMMANDER SATURN." She knocked on the door. A voice called out from the room behind, "Who is it?"

"It's Rosette," she answered to the door. "I have who you want to talk to."

"That's good. Come in; it's not locked."

She turned the door handle and opened the door. The room seemed small for a commander's room. A bookshelf was there, although only a few books were in it. There was no window, Wallace noted. The only table and the only two chair in the room were placed prominently on the back of the room, the chairs placed across each other on opposite sides of the table. There were not that many ornamental things in the room—no family pictures, no certificates nor degrees, no potted plants—but that yellow "G" was embossed on the far side of the room. Sitting behind the table was a familiar person—and _he _was familiar, not just what he wore—and his face and his hair brought up, in Wallace's mind, the name of a place: Floaroma Town. It also brought up a name of a friend he let go: Catherine, the Buneary. It also brought up another Pokemon: A Murkrow. He did not remember the name—as far as he could remember, the Murkrow probably had no name. Wallace remembered that time when the Murkrow attacked Catherine and everyone else there in that town. He remembered the Murkrow returning to his Poke Ball, the Poke Ball being owned by someone who looked just like Saturn.

Two people. The invader of Floaroma Town and one of the commanders of Team Galactic. Wallace then realized that the invader and the commander were actually the same person.

"Place the Turtwig on the table," Saturn asked Rosette politely.

Rosette gently did so.

"You have to go," Saturn said; "this is a talk that I want to keep between the two of us."

"Yes, Commander," she replied. Then, she left the room and closed the door.

That left the two of them. Wallace the Turtwig and Saturn the commander. Alone in the room. Wallace's heart was pumping. He had to be careful. He may not be ashamed of anything he had done against Saturn, but he was still part of Team Galactic. Who knew what Saturn would do to those who went against him and Team Galactic—to anyone who says defiantly to him, "I am against you!"?


	47. The Rift

**Author's Notes: **Is the end near?

**First, **to Wisp the Phoenix, shiny Pokemon _are _allowed, but for the time being (and, sadly, perhaps for good), original characters (OCs) from others are not being accepted now. I may be able to put Emma the Vulpix into the story in the near future, but with how things are going, it's a lot more likely that she will not appear. Sorry to say that.

**Second, **please read on and enjoy.

* * *

**Chapter 46**

**The Rift**

"_Instead of greedily desiring something more than the supply of his present need, he rejoices that God still cares for him. " A. W. Pink_

* * *

"It has been some time since I last saw you," Saturn said. He folded his hands on the table. "You may have forgotten me but I did not forget you. I thought about you for a while, thinking that you were just some Pokemon—_and_ former human—who was just trying to survive. Maybe the Pokemon with you were your family; very likely, they are your friends. I wasn't thinking that you were exactly planning to take us down, but then I heard the news about what happened in Eterna City. You caused it."

Wallace looked at him but he did not reply.

"When I heard about it, I thought that some of the gym leaders were already catching up on us. Of course, we were very suspicious after the transformations—the only humans in Sinnoh were members of Team Galactic. So, it's obvious, isn't it? We're the prime suspects. We're the ones who did it. We're the ones who turned everyone else into Pokemon."

"Then it's you!" Wallace said.

"Don't understand you," Saturn answered. "You and the every other Pokemon understand us humans, but we humans can't understand you Pokemon. I'm stuck with asking you 'yes-or-no' questions. That also leaves you stuck there listening to me most of the time, so you better behave. Obey my terms and I'll let you go, OK?"

Wallace nodded with a "Yes." It only came out as a "Twig" to Saturn. Would he let the gang go, after all they did to Team Galactic? Then again, Saturn might be cunning.

"So, I would want to let you remember that you crashed the place at Eterna City. You know what I am talking about. The place headed by Commander Jupiter."

A picture of the woman with magenta hair came back to Wallace's mind. What _was _she doing now?

"You invaded it with over ten Pokemon, and somehow,, you got Rotom to get on your side and attack us as well. Because of you, we can't find Rotom, and because of you, that Pokemon is probably thinking of a new plan to attack us right now. No Pokemon who was just some passerby would stage an attack like that on us—but you and your friends did. I don't know what was your objective in sacking the headquarters there, but you also freed the Pokemon trapped there. I won't accept that. But, I want to know _why _you did it anyway. Did you know back then that we were "illegally" catching Pokemon?"

The Turtwig shook his head.

"Did you know what we do there?"

Wallce shook his head.

"Did you attack it because we looked evil? Or familiar?"

Wallace gestured at Saturn.

"So...you decided to attack the Team Galactic HQ at Eterna City because the guards there were wearing uniforms like mine?"

"I don't know." Saturn still did not understand it.

"I'll take that as a 'Maybe' or an 'I'm not sure.' Were you really planning to attack us?"

Wallace shook his head again.

"That's a surprise," Saturn said. "What were you planning to do with the building there? Did you have some questions you wanted us to answer?"

Wallace nodded.

"It's a little funny for me. You thought we're just going to answer your questions about whatever you wanted to ask about. You should have known better. Then again, maybe you did not even know what Team Galactic is, even back then. Did you?"

Wallace nodded with another "Yes" that sounded as "Twig" to Saturn's ears.

"If you knew that we were 'bad' people, so to speak, then why ask us? Do you remember the questions you had wanted to ask?"

Wallace turned here and there. He traced back his steps. Away from the cages of the top floor. Away from the Kadabra he and the others encountered. Away from Rotom. Away from a mysterious statue. A mysterious stature of a Pokemon that was half a Pokemon, half another. _It's...it's like a two-in-one statue,_ Philipp had explained. _The left side is Dialga's side and the right side is Palkia's side._

"Was it something I can find in Eterna City?" Saturn asked.

Wallace nodded.

"Was it some sort of artifact or historical item?" Saturn asked. The questions were strangely getting close to what Wallace wanted to say. Was the commander setting the Pokemon up for a bad thing?

Wallace nodded.

"If you wanted to ask about something like that, you should have went to the museum. Even if the staff is now made up of Pokemon, they haven't forgotten the information. But, it's too late; you're here. Was the artifact you're looking for small?'

Wallace shook his head.

"Big?"

Wallace nodded.

"Big as a large fossil?"

Wallace shook his head.

"Is it bigger? Big as a monument?"

Wallace nodded.

"Was it even a fossil or an underground item?"

Wallace shook his head.

"Was it something that would be in the museum?"

Wallace shook his head. Saturn looked a bit surprised again.

"That leaves me with the statue near the headquarters. Is that what you wanted to ask about?"

Wallace nodded.

"Fine; I'll tell you what I know about it. The statue is well known for its rather jarring depiction of two very powerful Pokemon. You couldn't really tell it that much now, but historians almost universally agree that the statue depicts both Dialga, the Temporal Pokemon, and Palkia, the Spatial Pokemon. Archaeologists say that it was made no more than a thousand years ago. The fact that it had the 'split' was interesting to many who study it. And that's all I know about the statue. Are you satisfied?"

He did not even want to know the purpose of the statue; getting out as fast as possible and as clean as possible was more important to Wallace than some trivial information. He nodded.

"Good. I can't believe asking a simple question like that would cause the headquarters there to be rendered useless because of you. Yet, you're living proof of it.

"Now, maybe there's one more question in your head. I guess that it's about us and why you are a Pokemon now and not a human."

That, Wallace wanted to know more about.

"Do you want me to tell it to you? I'm having a good day; I'll let you know more about it if you want to."

Wallace nodded. _Here it comes, _Wallace thought.

"Team Galactic started the concept. I won't tell you _why _we wanted to turn everyone else into Pokemon; I'll only tell you _what _happened along the way because they're already done; you can't stop what has already happened. Even if I tell you important information, you would not be able to get to, say, an extensive mega-branch of Team Galactic operating in Unova because even if you did, it would take a lot of experts to take just that done. Sure, you and your friends defeated almost a hundred guards and dedicated scientists, plus Commander Jupiter. That's only because you had Rotom on your side, and Rotom is a very powerful Pokemon. It was just beginner's luck."

Wallace thought about Rotom at that short moment.

"About _what _we did and what we do—I don't want it this to be a very long story. I can tell you that our researchers researched on the field of Pokemon transformation, which included capturing a _lot _Ditto; then, our scientists made the chemical which was used to transform humans into Pokemon." Saturn looked at the door. He turned back to the Turtwig sitting on his table. "After that, Commander Mars transported large volumes of the chemical to Unova; the Unova branch there only needed a small amount for almost everyone in the world to turn into Pokemon. You know what they did?" He paused, facing Wallace with a hint of anticipation. "They shot it to the atmosphere. I won't explain to you why it exploded into light—that's not important. Now, almost everyone's a Pokemon. However, that's not the end of our plan."

Wallace mentally cringed at the thought of it. If the worldwide transformation was Team Galactic's goal, then it would have been good enough. But, the transformations being just a step of a sinister plan? What did Team Galactic want to achieve? Conquer the world? Alter the state of the entire world? Catch all of the Pokemon they can get and then use them to capture—or even kill—the legendary Pokemon of the world?

"There is a good reason why we do not capture a lot of Pokemon now. The chemical instantly changes your body into a Pokemon. The mind, however, will take some time to change. It won't remove all your memories as a human, if that's what you were afraid of. However, it will alter your mind to fit your form. It will mature your mind into that of a Pokemon's. I'm sure you have already experienced the instincts of a Turtwig."

Afraid, Wallace thought about how he acted in the past. The instincts were there, no matter how hard he had tried to suppress them.

"But," Saturn continued," it will not only add Pokemon instincts. It will change your priorities to that of a Pokemon—a normal, yet unique Pokemon. For example, do you want to be human again?"

Wallace nodded. Getting back to being human was the foremost thing on his mind now.

"When some months past, at most, the chemical will have made you _not _want to be human again. You would rather want to _stay _being a Pokemon—all because of that chemical. Now, I think you may start seeing humanity as inferior to Pokemon in a few ways. Later on, you'll come up with so many good reasons why Pokemon are better than humans, and that will make you want to remain a Pokemon all the more."

_Meaning we're a whole lot more powerful than humans,_ Wallace remembered Frank saying. _I can climb, they can't, Anne can read and take control of other Pokemon's minds, they can't_—What exactly Frank said after that, he could not remember. But he remembered that Frank wanted to be human again.

"And that's just a couple of changes it will make," Saturn said. Wallace almost feared what Saturn was going to say next. Having his mind slowly changed so much as to _not _want to return to being human was startling enough; whatever was next would not help him at all._"_You'll not only develop a taste for Pokemon food, you'll also stop wanting to eat food meant for humans only. And, once you reach a certain stage, much of your mind will be enslaved by the owner of whatever Poke Ball catches you, if you end up that way.

"It leads me back to why we haven't caught a lot of Pokemon yet, even though it would have seemed very tempting to do so. If I catch you now with a Poke Ball, you may not be really under my control because much of your mind is still a human's. If I catch you three months from now, you'll still have free will—only that free will of yours will be limited by _me._" He pointed to himself as if to make his point. "And, there's another reason; it may sound very cruel to you, but we also decided to not catch many Pokemon now so that later on, we'll see anarchy grow around the world."

Images of a burned down city with Pokemon running everywhere either in control or in panic passed by Wallace's mind. Thankfully, it had not gone even half that bad...yet. If what Saturn had said was true, all the former humans were just going to get worse. And when billions of Pokemon were suddenly added into the Pokemon population, things were really going to get worse—with overpopulation, territory fights and so on.

"Why the anarchy?" Saturn rhetorically asked. "So Team Galactic will have a special status among the world as being the only group of humans left. Think about it: The Pokemon that need help would turn to Team Galactic, thinking that we're some lucky group of people trying to help others. With that established, any Pokemon that tries to go against us will either suffer or surrender. Maybe even die for being so foolish."

Wallace felt an anger in him that wanted to get out. Anger for the "foolish" Pokemon. "No, they aren't!" he suddenly yelled at him. Saturn would hear only a string of "Turt" and "Turtwig!", but the angry tone was there for him to hear.

"You yourself are foolish to attack us in the first place!" Saturn retorted. He kept his cool, sighing. "Team Galactic will be under control of Sinnoh in year, less than four months at best if we're fast enough. I'll let you go and I'll let you try to stop me. Very risky for me to be easy on you, especially since you also took down the the Team Galactic headquarters in Eterna." Saturn leaned closer to the Turtwig. "I'm prepared for you. Charon is prepared for you along with Cyrus and the rest of Team Galactic. I doubt that you'll destroy us. Each day is a step farther away from humanity for you. In the end, you might not even want to become human again—you'll probably just try to defeat us because of your instincts." He leaned back to his chair.

"If you're wondering," Saturn added, "there is no antidote." He saw Wallace cower at the statement. "You can try to resist your instincts all you want, but you'll fail sooner or later. With no antidote, you'll either have to make your own—which requires a good degree in chemistry—or you'll try to hang on to what you got left." There was a short, dramatic pause. "Think about that one for a moment; maybe you'll break down and suddenly become a lot more Pokemon tonight!" He chuckled.

_No __antidote_, Wallace thought about it. _I don't even know how to make an antidote to a flu. If there's no antidote to this chemical, how will I get back to being human? I don't want to stay a Pokemon. I don't want! He's got to be lying. He's got to be lying. He must be bluffing. Saturn must be hiding the antidote somewhere. No, no, what if we all become wild Pokemon? I only wanted to be a Pokemon trainer, and now, I'm a Pokemon that will soon _not _want to be a...human again. How will I tell them? How..._

He shed a tear.

"Don't worry," Saturn said, "you'll be all right. You'll like life as a Pokemon, especially when you stop liking your humanity." He put a hand on Wallace's shell. "It's going to be fine; I'll bring you back—"

Wallace bit the hand.

Saturn yelled in pain. "Naughty Turtwig!" he yelled. "Stop that!"

"At least we're better than you, human, in some ways!" Wallace shouted.

"What?" He reached his other hand toward something under the desk.

"Yah!" Wallace yelled as he jumped and tackled Saturn on the head.

Saturn got back up on his chair, trying to reach again for that something. Wallace jumped and caught Saturn's hand again with his mouth. The commander yelled again, banging the Turtwig with his free hand. But the Turtwig had a firm grip on his hand; he would not let go, no matter how much Saturn shook his hand.

Both heard a metal, clanking sound. The door opened and Rosette came rushing in with her Bronzor.

"Psywave!" Rosette yelled.

The Bronzor's eyes glowed like a rainbow. Two rays of many colors came out of his eyes, and they both hit Wallace. Wallace let go, now surrounded in a strange aura of colors.

"Take him down!" Saturn shouted. He grabbed a Poke ball and out came his Murkrow.

The Murkrow swooped to Wallace, grabbing him with his beak, and threw him back down to the ground.

"Uhh..." Wallace moaned.

"Bronzor, Hypnosis!" Rosette ordered.

Her Bronzor glowed red. Wallace saw the red and he knew what will come. "No," Wallace groaned. He swayed his head, firing a couple of sharp leaves into the air. Whether any one of them hit a Pokemon—or even one of the two humans there—he did not know. He closed his eyes, tired yet trying to fight it. He slept.

* * *

"What time is it?" Mark asked as he rested in his cage.

Dave looked at the clock. "It's just a few minutes 'till ten," he replied.

"OK," Mark replied. 10 AM or 10 PM, he did not care now. He started dozing away in his cage. Then, the door opened.

Every Pokemon awake there looked at the commander. Resting on his hand was a sleeping Turtwig, snoring even, and the cage keys. "Here is your leader," he said, putting Wallace down on the top of Clive's cage. "If he had wanted information, he got it," he added as he went through the different keys.

"Why you..." Bodem muttered.

"Why do we have so many unused cages?" Saturn commented as he unlocked the door of Bodem's cage.

Clive had his head turned up, facing Wallace above him and on the cage. A grin grew on his face. He glanced at Saturn, focused on the cage and his back toward the Torchic. He looked back up at Wallace. He shot out many little fireballs from his beak and to Wallace.

Wallace screamed.

Saturn turned around. He saw Wallace jumping at him, trying to get shake off the pain of the little burns. Saturn got tackled by Wallace; he hit his head on the cages.

Bodem got out of his cage. Landing on Saturn's face, he hopped to the floor and hit him with a red beam from his mouth. Saturn grunted as he held on to the cage, trying to get up. He was struggling.

"What...how did you?" Saturn yelled at them. He was gasping a little from Bodem's Absorb.

A grunt went through the door. "Commander, we heard—commander!" he exclaimed. He grabbed his Poke ball and released his Sableye; the Sableye immediately rushed to the panicking Wallace, but Bodem tackled him midway.

"Sableye, flinch the Turtwig!" the grunt told.

The Sableye pushed Bodem back and clapped a powerful clap, throwing Bodem back and landing on the side of the cages.

"Take this!" Zack yelled. He shot out a stream of fire from his mouth towards the Sableye, burning him and knocking him backwards.

"Get up!" the grunt panicked, attempting to pull Saturn from the floor.

"Go..." Saturn said between gasps and bouts of tiredness, "call some back...up."

"Not getting away!" Bodem said as he shot another red beam from his mouth and hit the grunt with it. The grunt staggered and tried to keep his stand.

"Sableye!" the grunt called out. "Take them out!"

The Sableye's shadow reached out to the two Turtwig and hit them with both claws.

"Get them!" Saturn shouted, almost standing and grabbing a Poke ball from his pocket.

Wallace ran at Saturn's legs and tackled them, tripping Saturn and making him fall, hurting his head on one of the cages and dropping the Poke balls on the cage top of the cage. Saturn slid to the floor, not responding at all.

"Finally!" Bodem said, dropping the ring of keys to the floor. The cage door was open and the two Totodile went out of the cage.

"Sableye!" the grunt cried out. "Just finish them!"

His Sableye ran fast at Bodem and hit him with his head. Bodem countered with another tackle along with Tody's and Philipp's Water Guns straight at the Sableye.

* * *

"They're what?!" a woman with similar uniform and red hair shouted at the grunts in front of her, banging the table in front of her. "Activate the alarms, now!"

"Yes, Commander Mars," the grunts said. They rushed to the door, turning right after it.

Mars grabbed the little Poke balls on her desk, and ran to the door after them.

Out her small office room, the hallways began blaring the emergency alarm. The red lights that were usually off were now on, shining a red hue on the walls and the floor. Some more grunts were headed for one of the cage rooms, too. Almost none of them were going anywhere else. Mars looked to her right and ran there.

* * *

The sound of alarms blared from the hallways.

"They're coming for us!" Zack roared.

"Shut the door!" Wallace shouted.

Saturn, the grunt and his Sableye were knocked out unconscious. They were lying there on the floor. Bodem groaned as he slowly pushed their bodies to the front of the door, closing it. "That will have to do!" Bodem yelled back.

"Keys!" Wallace shouted.

"They're with Philipp!" Bodem shouted back.

"Guard the door!" Wallace replied with a yell.

Bodem ran towards the door. The two humans and one Sableye at the front of the door looked unusual, but it really was enough to keep the door a bit protected now.

Philipp went to Frank's cages while holding the ring of keys.

"Hurry up!" Mark shouted from his cage.

Wallace looked at the cages then looked back at the door. He heard no footsteps, but he thought they would come any moment. He heard a metallic clanking sound, turned around, and saw that Frank's cage was unlocked.

"Let me do this," Frank said, stretching his hands out for the keys.

Philipp handed them over. "Thanks," Frank said, then threw the keys to the top of Mark's cage. He then started climbing the cages, moving on them as fast as he could toward the keys.

"When the door opens," Wallace began, "attack whoever opens the door. There may be a lot of Galactic guys out there; I'm pretty sure there's about a hundred."

"We're doing this again?" Nicolas said.

Wallace nodded.

"Then, just get us out of here!"

"Wait, Nicolas," Frank said as he unlocked and opened the door of Mark's cage.

"Yeah!" Mark shouted, raising his fists in the air. Grabbing the keys from Frank's hands, he went out with a jump, Neha going after him. Frank fell off the cages from their surprising dash.

Mark ran to Zack's cage. "Would you please be faster?" Zack said.

"I have hands," Mark replied back.

Zack would have not liked it, but it _was _true. It was better than a couple of paws and claws.

The alarms continued to sound and blare. Wallace still heard no footsteps, but every second brought the footsteps closer, no doubt. He felt a sense of fear as every second passed. He watched the door, waiting for it to blast open any moment now, ignoring all the chatter taking place behind him. The floor on the hallway was probably metal; whoever were was coming to get them were probably running. The footsteps were going to be loud; the sound would make Wallace be more afraid—and, hopefully, more aware.

He heard a cage unlock. It was Zack's. Then, another cage was unlocked. It was Dave's, freeing him along with Aigua. Then, a third cage was unlocked and then some more were so. Wallace kept watching the door. The footsteps were not there, yet.

"What's taking them a long time?" Wallace asked, a bit confused.

"Doesn't matter," William answered, now free from his cage. "We need to get everyone free."

"OK," Wallace said. He turned back to the door.

* * *

"There!" Maylene's Lucario shouted, pointing at the peculiar building not far ahead. Maylene, her Machoke and her Meditite followed him on the urban road as he ran to the building. A few more fighting Pokemon were running behind them."There is no one outside the place, but there are many humans approaching the Pokemon there."

"Are you sure it's them?" Maylene asked, running beside him.

"Yes," he replied. "Dave's signature aura is there. His friends are also there."

"I trust you," Maylene said. A smile went on her face.

To her surprise, her Lucario smiled back at her while they ran to the headquarters.

* * *

"Out of the way!" Mars ordered as she shoved a grunt, running towards the cage room. Ahead of her, a few grunts were already getting closer to the room.

"Purugly, now!" she shouted. She grabbed a Poke ball from her pocket, and her Purugly appeared on the floor.

"Purugly!" her Purugly yelled. Mars only heard that from the Tiger Cat Pokemon, nothing more. The Purugly looked at her trainer, who was already running; she ran after her.

_This place has the serum, _Mars thought as she ran. _If they mess that up, all of us here might get turned into Pokemon! I'm not going to give them a chance. Not even a teeny chance!_

* * *

"Footsteps!" Wallace suddenly shouted. "They're close! Is everyone out?" He turned around, seeing all of the cages unlocked. "Everyone's out!" he yelled.

"Are you guys ready?" Zack said.

A few enthusiastic yells of "Yeah!" sounded out. Most of the Pokemon there just nodded or chose not to respond at all. What happened at Eterna City was a success. This was the real life, however, and there was always the chance that they would fail now.

The door went open fast, hitting the unconscious bodies and sweeping them to the right. It was a female grunt with a Bronzor. The Bronzor's eyes were glowing red.

Peter spun himself into a wheel and hit the Bronzor with his flames before he could hit them with red beams. The Bronzor recoiled to her trainer, pushing her back as well.

Mary then ran to the Bronzor, and swayed her leaf in his direction, throwing purple powder at him. It did not poison him, but it did irritate his eyes; he closed his eyes in what seemed to be both stress and pain.

Zack ran ahead and bit the grunt's leg; she screamed and started punching aimlessly at the "bad Growlithe!" Zack spat out little fireballs at her and her Bronzor.

"That'll give us some time!" Zack exclaimed as he went back to the room.

"Go, go!" Nicolas yelled. He ran scampered out the room, and turned right.

And so, everyone else there ran out of the room and followed the Shinx.

* * *

"Hold it!" a guard in white-silver uniform yelled at them. He stood behind one of the double doors of the structure. "Get them, Croagunk!"

The Machoke ran at him, going through the doors of the building; the Croagunk shot poison stings from his mouth to the Machoke, and the darts hit him.

Maylene's Lucario ran inside—along with every other Pokemon with him—and hit the guard's Croagunk with a paw and firing a huge blast at him from the paw. "Take down the others!" he told Maylene.

* * *

"Commander!" a scientist called out. He was catching up to her.

"What is it!?" she yelled. "This is an emergency situation!"

"A group of Pokemon has invaded the HQ from the entrance," he told, panting. "They were about to see me, but—"

"You've got to be kidding!"

"I'm not kidding!"

"Then tell the others to stop them!" Mars shouted. "Activate the security measures; you know what to do there!"

* * *

"That's weird," Peter noted as they ran past the hallways lined with doors to whatever they concealed. "How come no one's here?"

"I think the place is big," William replied. "It will take us a long way out of this maze. Just be prepared."

The long hallway stopped at a turn. A door was on that end of the hallway. It was labeled "Archives, Transformation." It unsettled Wallace. After what Saturn had told him, he felt more afraid than he ever was. No antidote? There were many problems with having no antidote, no solution, to them being a Pokemon.

"Can we open the door?" Wallace asked. "Maybe there's—"

"No, we can't," Mark answered back. "You can read when we get out of here!"

All of the Pokemon turned the right at the end of the hallway. Who they saw standing on the floor was Mars along with a Purugly and a Bronzong, with half a dozen grunts blocking the hallway along with their Pokemon. The sight of them surprised the running Pokemon.

"Stop them!" Mars screamed.

Dave immediately released a stream of hot, boiling water from his beak. The scalding stream of water was headed towards the Pokemon and the humans ahead of him, and it hit them.

The Purugly slashed Dave and some of the others with a Shadow Claw. Then, more Pokemon from Galactic's side went to them with their own attacks and moves.

"Are we outnumbered!?" Neha asked awkwardly before he got thrown away along with Mark by a Dustox's gust of wind.

* * *

"Everyone here is down," Maylene reported.

"Shouldn't we just continue running to that 'Dave' guy?" a Heracross asked beside her.

"Right," Maylene replied. "We have no time to lose!"

And so, they ran out of the room and into the hallway, heading towards Dave and the other Pokemon. The room they left behind was dotted with faint Pokemon and humans practically littered on the floor; most of them were trying to get out of the room. A few of them were faint and unconscious like their Pokemon.


	48. After This

**Chapter 47**

**After This**

_"__We cannot enjoy peace in this world unless we are ready to yield to the will of God in respect of death. Our times are in His hand, at His sovereign disposal. We must accept that as best.__" - John Owen_

* * *

"Mars!" one of the grunts yelled midst the battle. "We're being back flanked by some Lucario!"

"Then it's them!" she yelled. A stream of fire went off and went flying past her; she ducked. "Take care of them!"

"But we're surrounded on both—"

"Will you shut it! Get some help, then!"

* * *

"Lucario!?" Dave exclaimed. He fired a stream of bubbles at the Golbat. "It's Maylene and her team!"

"Told you backup will come!" Mark shouted, dodging a Stunky's Night Slash.

"Since when!?" Dave answered back, crazily running at Mars and the other grunts, preparing for a crazy attack at them and their Pokemon—especially them.

"Wha!?" Mark was thrown off by the echoing voice of a Glameow. A couple of Houndour beat up on the Chimchar.

* * *

"Croagunk," one of them shouted, pointing at the new group of Pokemon behind them, "attack them with Mud Bomb!"

His Croagunk fired from his mouth balls of mud and aimed them at the group of fighting Pokemon. They spattered on all of them, but they kept running towards him.

"Mars, I don't think—"

"Have any Pokemon with Teleport!?" Mars shouted back. "We need to retreat!"

"No! Sorry, commander."

"Purugly, hypnotize them!" she ordered. She turned hastily to the grunt. "Do something!"

"I can't!" he replied. "Help's coming!"

Mars dodged a flaming Chimchar flying at her face. The Chimchar landed on another grunt's face. "Tell them to get here now!"

* * *

"Why so many Golbat!?" Maylene's Machoke complained as half a dozen of Golbat came flying at them. Some of the Golbat were screeching loudly at them; the rest were already lunging at them for whatever attack they had prepared. The screeches were deafening, bringing Maylene and her group trying to cover their ears. The other Golbat spread their wings and hit the other Pokemon with their sharp wings.

The Heracross jabbed a couple of Golbat with his horn. The other fighting Pokemon surrounded him, their backs facing him, as they tried to defend themselves from the Golbat. They jumped, kicked, and punched them. It was an annoying fight, but two Aura Spheres finally brought the last Golbat to a faint.

"Oh great, they tricked us!" Maylene shouted, as the auras of more humans were approaching them. They clearly were not on their side, as she detected.

"Rayming, Colin, Machoke!" the Lucario called out. The Heracross, the Machop, and the Machoke quickly looked at him. "Protect us from that side!" He pointed away from the barricade of people ahead of them. "We'll attack the humans here!"

"Get the others out!" one of the grunts shouted at another.

"Ah, OK!"

Then, three of them faced the Lucario and released their Pokemon. In front of their enemies materialized a Glameow, a Croagunk, and a Stunky.

"Glameow, use Fury Swipes on that Lucario!"

"Stunky, Acid Spray them!"

"Croagunk, Venoshock!"

"They're coming!" Colin shouted. "They're coming!"

* * *

"Take this!" Frank shouted, releasing green beams from his hands that attached to a Stunky and a Houndor, sucking the energy from the two. Another Stunky tackled him and slashed him.

"Purugly, attack them with Aerial Ace!" Mars commanded.

Her Purugly jumped into the air. She became surrounded with a white glow, and then she slammed into the two Cyndaquil, leaving a shockwave that also blasted others as well.

Zack charged and slammed the Purugly, knocking her away while she tried to hold her ground. Nicolas jumped at the Bronzong and bit him with Thunder Fangs, coursing electricity through the Bronzong's steel body.

Mars looked at her two Pokemon. They were already suffering hard. But, the others were already suffering, too. It was only a matter of time, she thought.

"Confuse them, Golbat!" she ordered desperately.

Her Golbat immediately stared at all of the opposing Pokemon with purple, glowing eyes that flashed.

Wallace looked up at them.

"Wallace, no!" Dave yelled. He grabbed him and yanked the Turtwig away.

"Are you?" Dave tried. Then, he was hit by two black beams of dark energy. It was from a Murkrow's two eyes.

* * *

"Oh boy," the Machoke muttered. They were now surrounded by Team Galactic on both sides.

"Machoke!" Maylene shouted as she charged another Aura Sphere at another approaching Croagunk. "Just do it!"

"What!?"

"Tackle the humans!"

He grinned. Then, he began running to the grunts fresh from the other side. He bore the stings and the little tackles. Some of the Pokemon were already trying to run to him, to stop him. But, he went through, breaking the new barricade of grunts and knocking out some of the grunts.

Colin charged at one of the panicked grunts, grabbed his foot, and threw him at the other group of humans.

Maylene looked at the flying and screaming grunt. "Why didn't I think of that before?" she said to herself.

"We don't have time," the Lucario said. "We need to take the humans out now before they call even more help." He turned to the Machoke. "Take care of them."

* * *

"Dave?" Wallace asked amidst the heavy battle.

"Finally, you're OK!" Dave said, being a little relieved. "I thought—"

"Bronzong, use Gyro Ball!"

"Oh great," Bodem muttered as he saw the Bronzong spin and spin, becoming a blur of pale blue headed toward them.

Mary fired leaves from her buds and at the spinning Bronzong. It did not slow down.

Then, a scream. The group of humans in front of them toppled, some of them falling on others. Somehow, a grunt flew and landed on them. Mars fell on her Bronzong, bringing the Bronzong to abruptly stop spinning and fly at the wall. It crashed to the wall and fell down, faint.

"Who did that!?" Mars shouted.

"Come on, come on!" William panicked, running to surround the pile of humans.

Peter rolled into a fiery wheel and rolled to the Purugly to the dazed Purugly, knocking her out. Then, he also went to the pile of humans.

"Golbat!" Tody shouted. He fired a stream of water at the Golbat, and it was also going down. He ran to her, planning to attack it with whatever move he had in mind.

Nicolas's body began sparking out sparks. He winced.

"Nicolas?" Zack asked. This was not something normal.

Nicolas discharged the electricity in him, striking Zack and the rest of the Pokemon around him and even the humans confused and down on the floor. Lightning went everywhere in the hallway. The metallic walls and floors helped the electricity course to even Maylene's Pokemon along with Maylene herself and the humans there with her.

Then, it stopped. Nicolas looked around him. Some of the grunts were knocked out unconscious. No, it looked like most of them were unconscious or somewhere close to it. Only a few of them had their eyes open and moving; one of them was Mars. He looked at the Pokemon. None of his friends were knocked out, but a lot of them did look hurt. Mars's Golbat was knocked out. Poke Balls were on the floor, all of them closed. They did not open, and it was a good relief to the Shinx.

"Heh, you got us," Mars said weakly. "But don't bother about us. You should just get out of here while you can. Fighting against us is useless unless we had a way to reverse the transformation."

"Yeah, show us where it is!" Zack shouted at her. It was an incoherent string of "Chim" and "Char" to Mars.

"I wouldn't reveal it to you even if we had such a thing," she replied sharply. The weak voice was still there. "But, we don't have a way to reverse it. No antidote, no cure, no special potion to turn you back into a human." She looked at the faces of the Pokemon in front of her. Then, she slowly stood up. "Maybe some magical syrup of some kind from a faraway land might just help you. But, that's it."

Now, every Pokemon was slowly walking towards her, the only human standing.

Nicolas, tired, looked at Mars with a terrified face. "No…what if it accidentally turns _you _into a Pokemon?"

"Then we'll make the antidote," Mars began. "But, after I turn back into a human, we'll just throw the antidote away. It will be nothing." She looked at all the grunts. Most of them were down; some were just standing up. "Don't hurt them anymore. They're not a serious threat to us."

"You want to be a human?" Mark whispered to Wallace. He gripped his shell. "Go hit her and make her say something!"

"She's…she's telling the truth." Wallace hesitated, but the words came out anyway.

* * *

Maylene sensed the red-haired girl's aura. She sounded sincere. But, something wrong was there. Was it a lie? Was she planning to surprise them with some more of her Pokemon? Despite her hours of aura training, she could not see what it really was.

"Lucario," she tapped. "There's something fishy about her."

"I know," he replied. He stared at Mars, her aura visual in his sight. "She's lying."

"But why aren't you stopping her? Does she have a trap?"

"No. It's as if Mars is going to correct the lie."

"What?"

* * *

"You got a _lot _of friends here," Mars commented. "Trying to battle you is not a good idea, right? OK, let me tell it out straight: There _is _a way you guys can get become human again."

Many eyes lit up.

"_But_, it's far away in Unova. Since you can't ride airplanes, you'll have to get on a boat or you can use a Bird Pokemon to get there. That will take you months. By the time you land on Unova, you will be very, very changed in _here._" She pointed to her head. "I don't know if Commander Saturn or someone else explained it to you, but the thing that made you into Pokemon—it will change your mind into that of a Pokemon's. In about three months, you'll just have your human memories but everything else will be a Pokemon's. And I doubt that the Galactics in Unova would want to give the antidote to you since you want to take Team Galactic down anyway."

"Mars," a grunt spoke up, "what are you doing?"

"I know what I am doing. I'm just giving them a challenge they can't beat."

Zack growled but even his anger did not trump his mind. Unova was indeed a faraway region. It would only take a day or two in an airplane, but airplanes were now almost useless. Without air transport, it would really take months to get there. If they wanted to get there, it would take months; not years, thankfully, but it was far enough to take months to get to. And if their minds were overridden by Pokemon instincts by then…

"I'll tell you another thing: When that 'thing' is finished with its job, it will take over your…well, almost everything except your memories. I don't know how that works and I don't know how to explain it all to you, but Cyrus told me before that it will change your wants and needs over time. You won't be under mind control—that would be too boring for us to handle—but you will end up hating some things you love, like, say, wanting to be a _human _again!" She laughed.

"For now, you get out of here. You can try to explore but most of the doors are locked." The commander looked at her underlings. "Bring these Pokemon out of the headquarters right away! And make sure they don't make any more trouble in here!"

"Yes, commander!" the grunts yelled in reply.

* * *

"That's enough rough stuff from you," the Pokemon heard from one of the grunts as the double doors closed.

It was already night time. The moon was there in the sky, and so were the plentiful stars. The buildings in the city were, surprisingly, lit up by many lights. Streetlights were also on. The sound of many Pokemon chattering and making sounds were there. It was a cozy sound in a city like this. Behind them, the Team Galactic Headquarters in the city seemed to be the only building that had no lights on. There were a few lights on, but it was a meager amount compared to the bright illumination of the city lights.

"Let's go back to the gym?" Maylene offered.

* * *

The walk back to the gym was a quiet one. The sight of two Lucario in the same place merited the attention of some, but the two of them led the rest of the Pokemon through alleys and the side roads, where not many Pokemon would be. Passing through all the noise of the city centers and other Pokemon passing by, none of them talked much; at least, not with an open mouth. Philipp and the others saw that Maylene and her Lucario were looking at each other oddly, their faces showing changes of emotion without even speaking.

"Are you…" Clive began.

"Reading minds," both of the Lucario replied.

"Oops! Sorry, I forgot."

"Do you want to know the time I went to the Safari Zone?" Rayming asked.

"Maybe no," Neha brushed off.

"Hey," Aigua said. "Show some respect to the Heracross."

"Not if you—"

"Would you please stop arguing?" the Lucario interrupted.

* * *

Finally, there they were, in the gym. Lanterns lit up the dark room. There they were, in the same dojo-esque room where Dave fought Maylene and lost to her. The Cobble Badge, still hiding in his blue, feathery cape of his; it was still there. But the gym badge was not in his mind now, nor was it on anyone else's mind.

"So…what are we going to do now?" Maylene asked. "You heard what Mars said. She said that the only thing that can turn us back into Pokemon is in Unova, and that's about three or four thousand miles away from Sinnoh. If what she said is right, we'll not be looking forward to be humans ever again!"

"Are you planning to join us?" Wallace asked.

"Maybe, if I had the time. But, I have a gym to run and take care of. You don't need to worry about me, really."

"What you need is some fast fliers to take you to Unova," Zack suggested.

"But Staraptor aren't airplanes," Maylene's Lucario replied, "and they are living beings. They may be fast and strong, but they will need rest. And taking the straight path to Unova is very foolish because directly between Sinnoh and Unova is much sea. And even then, Staraptor aren't as fast as some of the better airplanes, especially when you some Pokemon's riding on them."

"What if we try to walk there?" Flame asked.

"You know it will take you a very long time to walk there."

"What if you were an Arcanine, Zack?" Colin asked. "You could run thousands of miles as an Arcanine!"

"How will I evolve into an Arcanine?" Zack shot back. "Fire Stones are rare in this part of Sinnoh."

"We can settle how we can go to Unova later," the Meditite chimed in. "For now, do you really want to go to Unova and get back to being humans again?"

"Uh, yeah!" Mark answered. The other former humans gave a "Yes". Others nodded. Every one of them clearly wanted to be human again.

"That's good," the Meditite said. "Just making sure no one here is against that idea. Anyway, it's been only eleven days since you got transformed into Pokemon. Whatever turned you into Pokemon is not really taking your heads over. Not yet."

"What about you, Maylene?" Dave asked.

"I want to be human again, too," Maylene replied. "I'll try to keep that in mind."

"Me too," Colin spoke up.

"Actually, I really don't know," Rayming said.

"Huh?" a lot in the room asked.

"Ever since I was a Heracross, I've become very close with my Heracross and my other Pokemon. I mean, I can finally talk to them properly; I didn't need to guess…yes, I didn't need to try to—you get what I mean. To be really honest with you, maybe being a Pokemon for the rest of your life isn't that bad as you think."

"It's invading you early!" Mark shouted at him. "You need to wake up!"

"Quiet!" both of the Lucario aimed at him.

"If that's what Rayming wants, let him be," the Meditite said. "I see that he really means it; it's not his instincts. He really wants to stay as a Pokemon. I sense his sincerity in that."

"Thanks, Meditite," Rayming said. "And yes, I'm willing to give up my old human life for the Pokemon life."

"Because, let me guess, human life is too complicated?" Philipp grilled.

"You could say that."

"OK, back to how we can be humans, please," Wallace spoke up.

"Are you sure you can handle going to Unova?" Maylene asked. "It's a long, hard trip there as Pokemon."

"There must be some other way you can turn back to people without travelling so far," the Machoke thought. "Could you make some sort of cure for it?"

"No," Frank replied.

"We didn't even take chemistry courses," Clive added.

"That's because _you _wanted all of us to not take a college course," Frank said, pointing at Clive.

"Hey, at least we can try the library," William said, trying to quell the growing fight.

"Would you all stop!?" the Lucario gruffed. "You don't have peaceful auras; I don't need to see your auras to know that."

Everyone became quiet.

"Everybody set aside your harsh differences and please stop it. If we're going to get this finished, we have to cooperate."

"What about Team Galactic?" Rayming asked. "Even if you manage to get to Unova, they won't just give it to you."

"By force?" Mark said, hitting his fist on his other hand.

"Maybe," Maylene replied. "But what about the Pokemon there in Unova? I think there will be a lot more chaos in Unova than we have here in Sinnoh; just imagine what happened to the other regions when the humans were transformed while awake."

"Maylene," her Meditite tapped, "Unova was already in the nighttime when the transformations happened."

"It's that?" Maylene then turned to the other former humans, smiling a bit more. "I guess you'll be all right when you get there. And, have you found somewhere to stay?"

"No, Maylene," Wallace answered.

"The bedrooms are still open to you," Maylene said, "if you like."

Dave put a flipper on Wallace's shell. "We have nowhere else to go, Wally. Besides," he yawned, "we all need a sleep."

Wallace looked at Maylene and her Lucario. Both of them were OK with them sleeping there. If the Turtwig refused the offer, where would they stay? With virtually every other human changed into Pokemon, sleeping on the grass was not a good idea.

"He's right," Wallace began. "We really have nowhere else to go."

"That's great!" Maylene said cheerfully. "I'll go and prepare the beds."

Then, she rushed to the stairs.

"If she was a natural-born Lucario," her Lucario said. His eyes moved slowly as he tracked the aura of her trainer. "I would regard her as very strange. Lucario clans usually don't accept guests like you, especially, _especially,_ when you manage to defeat one of the leading Lucario. But of course, she was my trainer for some time."

"Remember when she fumbled with her first Aura Sphere?" the Machoke asked.

"We all do. 'Like an adult taking his first steps.'" He walked to William and kneeled to his level. "And what about you?"

"What about me?" William asked back.

"They're ready!" Maylene announced suddenly. "You can all sleep now upstairs."

"She's too cheery sometimes," her Lucario told. "I can put up with it." He pointed to the only other door in the room. "Go take a nap. You're_ all _too tired to go on for the night."

"Yeah's" and other expressions of relief sounded through the room as the Pokemon went through the door, up the wooden winder stairs up through the tall stairwell. At the top, an open door showed a long, wooden room of beds lined up beside the walls. All the beds looked the same. There was a door on each long side of the room. They seemed to have more bedrooms behind them.

"Pick any bed," Maylene said. "If you need anything, we'll just be downstairs." Then, she went down the stairs, leaving the seventeen Pokemon there in the bedroom.

"I've been with you long enough to see that you're _not _criminals," Zack chuckled. "Please try to stay out of trouble next time, though. I'll probably not see you for some time, so bye." Then, the Growlithe went out of the room and down the stairs.

"Sleep, finally!" Mark yelled. He immediately jumped on one of the beds.

"Do you mind?" Mary replied.

Philipp put a claw on his face. "This is going to be one long night."

* * *

"Saturn?" Mars shouted. She ran further through the hallways.

In the small horizon, she saw a door that was not closed. It was swinging open. It was the door to one of the cage rooms.

"Saturn?" she repeated.

She approached the door. Little sparks of electricity were coming out of the door. A low, humming buzz was coming from the lit up room. She was afraid. Did they beat up Saturn as badly as she had thought? Were they as ruthless as she had heard from some of the survivors from the Eterna City incident?

She was standing in front of the door. The door was the only obstacle left between her and Saturn. Or what remained of him, if he was still conscious, or even alive. Or was it even worse? Mars took a deep breath. She rushed around the door and looked inside the small room.

The cages were empty. Many of their doors were open. The clock's hands were approaching half past ten in the night. She still looked up, afraid to see what had happened to Saturn. She did not love him as romance lovers loved each other, but the mutual friendship of the commanders was there.

She gulped. Then, she looked down to the floor. Screaming.

On the floor was a knocked out Sableye. Beside the Sableye lay another Pokemon. Saturn never owned or caught a Gallade, as far as Mars knew. But, it was there on the floor. A Gallade. It could be some other Pokemon that belonged to someone else. But, the thought that the Gallade _was _Saturn did not leave her mind. _It couldn't be, _she thought repeatedly. It was very unlikely that any of them would get transformed into a Pokemon—and, another question about _how _the chemical would have gotten to him in the first place also did stay in her mind—but, it was not impossible.

The Gallade twitched. Then, Mars heard it cough a little. She slowly stepped back in fear, not taking her eyes off the Gallade.

"Gal...lade?" the Gallade asked. He rubbed his head. He looked at his green, long arms. His red eyes widened at the sight of them. "Gallade!" He looked at his body; the white legs, the red horns sticking out of his green chest. He then put his arms on his head. It felt hard, as hard as a helmet. "Lade!"

Mars stepped back even further. This was not something a normal Gallade would do—unless he had amnesia. It all looked eerily like that of a former human.

The Gallade suddenly looked at Mars. "Gallade!" he shouted desperately, but Mars did not understand.

"Are you," she tried, "are you Saturn?" _Maybe this is just some other Gallade; but Saturn _was _here. No…is he?_

The Gallade nodded fast.

"No way," Mars said. "Saturn…how did this happen to you?"


	49. Perish Song

**Chapter 48**

**Perish Song**

"_Every sin, no matter how seemingly insignificant, is an act of rebellion against the sovereign God who reigns and rules over us and as such is an act of treason against the cosmic King." R.C. Sproul_

* * *

"Gal, Gallade!"

"You're…you're a Gallade!" Mars said. "Use some telepathy or psychic stuff!"

"Lade…" the Gallade tried. He put his fingers on his head, trying to figure out how to talk to her with his mind.

He walked to her; a limp was there. In his Gallade body, he was shorter than her, but he was almost as tall as her.

_Mars? Mars? Mars? _she heard in her mind. It sounded very much like Saturn._ Am I doing this right? I feel awkward walking—_

"I think so," Mars replied. "But how did you get…into _this_?"

_I don't know, _Saturn thought. _Mars, I don't know; I don't want to be a Pokemon._

"I'm sure you mean that," Mars said. "Do you remember anything before you got transformed?"

_Rotom, _he thought out.

"Rotom?" Mars repeated.

_I saw that same Rotom; maybe in a dream. It's that Rotom we had. He was saying something; couldn't remember what._ _Maybe it's just me. I hope I'll be OK._

"Do you want to get human again?" Mars asked. It was an alarming question; if he did not, she did not know what to do with him. He would still be Saturn, but not the Team Galactic commander anymore. _Please say yes._

"Gallade!" he said, nodding his head hard.

Mars sighed in relief. "Remember we don't have any antidote for it?"

His eyes widened. _No, no. We should have done it before, as a safety measure._

"Yeah, maybe we should have made it before they fired DEON-1 to the air. We should have taken the 'accident factor' into account long ago."

_I want to be human again._

"I want you to," Mars said.

In her mind, it was not good. If Saturn, of all four of the commanders, was somehow turned into a Pokemon—even though both of them knew that none of the intruders were able to get hold of DEON-1; the annoying Pokemon probably did not even know _where _it was in this place—then she, along with Jupiter, would be vulnerable to being a Pokemon also. The grunts were certainly much more vulnerable to it. Not even Master Cyrus was completely immune from it. And, if Saturn got transformed without warning at all—that scared her. She did not want to stoop down to the level of a Golbat. _Maybe a Purugly, but I still don't want._

_At least I'm a Gallade._

"Isn't it embarrassing when you realize that Kirlia would be your previous form?" Mars laughed a little at it.

The Gallade thrusted both of his arms towards Mars. His arms missed, hitting the metallic wall she was leaning on. There were cracks on the wall. Mars screamed. The sharp arms almost hit her. She stared at the Gallade. He stared back at her; they were both scared.

"Saturn?!" Mars shouted.

"Gallade, Gal, Lade, Lade Gal Lade!" _I'm so sorry, Mars! That's not me; there's something wrong with me!_

"It's your Pokemon nature and your Pokemon instincts!" Mars panicked. "We really need to tell Charon to start the antidote project now!"

_Let me get used to being a Gallade first, _Saturn told. _I can't even walk right._

"OK, but we don't have time!"

_Rotom?_

"What?"

_I think…I think Rotom turned me into a Gallade._

"Why do you think he was the one?" Mars asked as she pulled the Gallade through the hallways.

_It's getting clear…no; how?_

"What is it?"

_I remember him holding something. He was holding a sample of DEON-1; I don't remember him throwing it at me. That's all I can recall now._

"Maybe it's just a bad dream," Mars said, still pulling the Gallade through the corridors. Saturn tried not to trip. "But maybe you're right."

She pulled him as she ran. The alarm lights were still on and flashing, but the alarm sounds were off. She knew that it would take months for Saturn to be fully "Pokemonized". Despite that, she did not want to delay; she wanted him back as a human. She kept thinking to herself that it was not because she loved him; Gallade could read others' minds—that did not mean Saturn could read minds, at least not yet. She wanted the reason to be: To make sure the leadership of Team Galactic is stable and not compromised. Maybe Charon would buy that. It looked too shallow for a good reason.

They went up the stairs; Saturn tripped on them.

_It's all right, _Saturn assured. _I'll just crawl through the stairs._

"Just hurry up, Saturn," Mars said. She watched him maneuver the stairs; she waited. She watched him struggle to get a grip on the treads with his little fingers. She did not want to go without him beside her now.

_You sound desperate. Is there more to this than just bringing me back to being a human?_

"If we don't turn you back into a human, you'll resist the desire to be human again!"

_Thank you for that, _Saturn told. _I _do _want to be a human again, too. But, I feel that there's more to that._

"Team Galactic will fail without you!" Mars replied. "Cyrus chose you to be one of his commanders; he knows that there's something in you that will make the plan succeed. It's like…it's like…"

_You're so emotional, Mars. You also sound cheesy; I'll still take your word._

Then, he was at the top of the stairs. He stood up, shaking a little.

"You're done." She took hold of his arm, and began running again. "Let's go!"

_We have a lot of time, Mars, _Saturn thought. _We can just walk._

"I'm saving time!" Mars shouted.

_You're just tired, aren't you?_

"Maybe!"

Through the hallways again. Past the many doors and rooms of the floor. Through the turns and crossroads of the building. The red lights of the alarm lights made all of them look dark and eerie.

"There it is!" Mars yelled.

It was the only door on the wall. The door itself was not fancy. On the door was a glass plate with the words "CHARON" embossed and painted on it. It was closed.

_What's that sound?_ Saturn asked.

"No…not you, too!" Mars shouted at the door.

_What is it, Mars?_

"Sparks of electricity…"

_Maybe he's working with some other Electric-type Pokemon. We all know he has a fond of them after he got Rotom._

"Maybe Rotom turned him into a Pokemon, too!"

_I said that _maybe _it was just me. I only saw him in a vision._

"He's also a Ghost-type! Maybe it was a nightmare of—I don't know! Open!"

Mars held the door knob and forced the door open. The door banged at something. It was dark. None of the lights were on. Mars felt her way to the light switch and turned it on. The ceiling lights turned on, lighting up the room.

Charon's room had a bed area at the far side of the room; it had a big, fluffy bed. The silver walls and the metal floor made the room look nicely futuristic, yet clashing with the rest of the tables in the room; they were plastic. All sorts of scientific equipment were on the tables. There were beakers and graduated cylinders and test tubes; none of them contained any sort of chemical or liquid. None of the machinery was on; they stood still.

"Charon?" Mars cried out. "Where are you?"

They went further. They saw the broken glass on the floor; some of the beakers had fallen to the floor.

"This is not good," Mars said.

_Wait…_Saturn told. _I think I'm getting where Charon is._

"Come on!" She gripped the Gallade harder. "Use your psychic powers!"

_I have only been a Gallade for less than an hour, and you want me to use my psychic powers? I can use telepathy, but I think that's all I can do for now._

"Grrr…"

"What was that?" Mars said, surprised. She stepped back.

_It's a…it's a Skuntank. I don't know what he's doing here._

"Charon!" Mars yelled. "Where are you?

_He's behind the bed. _Saturn looked at Mars. _Mars? Are you OK? You're acting weird._

"I'm scared, Saturn…I don't want to be a Pokemon." The sound of sobbing was faint, but it was there in her voice.

_You're being too emotional, Mars._

"Skun, Skuntank…"

"Gallade?" Saturn said.

"Is it Charon?" Mars asked. "If he's a Skuntank, I need to—"

_Yes, he is a Skuntank, and no, you don't need to get away from here._

Mars sat down on the floor; despair was building up. "No, I _won't _be a Pokemon…"

_Stand up, Mars. You're one of the commanders, remember? _Saturn smiled. Maybe the smile would cheer her up. Maybe it would not. _Besides, the Galactics at Unova have an airplane. They can bring us there; maybe they already have an antidote and they can bring it here, for me and Charon._

"Skuntank!"

A Skuntank ran out of the large bed, making Mars scream in surprise. The Skuntank looked at Mars and the Gallade standing beside her. "Skun!" he shouted. Mars saw that it had Charon's red, round eyeglasses on his nose; they looked too big for the Skuntank.

"Gallade, Lade!" Saturn told.

Mars looked at the two Pokemon responding to each other. To her, it was just a bunch of Pokemon speech she could not understand, but the movements helped. The Skuntank tried to look at himself; he appeared just as shocked as Saturn was back in the cage room.

The door closed abruptly with a bang.

The Gallade and the Skuntank turned to the door. Mars gasped; she looked at the door, too.

Then, the sound of locks moving in the door.

"Who's there!?" Mars shouted. She looked behind her. Saturn put on a fighting stance; the Skuntank did, too, although it trembled a little.

"Skuntank, Skun, Skun!"

"What is he saying?" Mars asked.

_Charon said that it's Rotom and he knows it._

She fumbled for a Poke Ball; they weren't in her pockets. "Great!" she shouted. "I left them outside!"

_I'll try to take care of him, Mars! _Saturn thought to her as his green arms glowed.

"No, Saturn!" Mars yelled.

_Why? I thought you didn't want to be a Pokemon._

"What if you'll be more of a Pokemon when you fight?"

_You're forgetting the childish former humans. They fought against us, and they still want to be humans again._

Sparks of electricity coursed through the ceilings. The three looked up. Rotom himself did not appear in the sparks. The sparks traveled to the light switch. The switch short circuited; it exploded. The lights went off.

"Tank, Skuntank!"

_Charon wants Rotom to get away from him._

"You don't need to translate everything for me," Mars said matter-of-factly.

Sparks went out from the lights and traveled to a center in the air. The sparks formed an outline; it was the outline of a Rotom.

"Gallade!" Saturn shouted as he charged to the outline. He hit it, and Gallade pushed the outline down to the ground. The sparks of electricity hit the Gallade, but he kept putting the electrical outline down. Then, the Rotom appeared from the outline.

"Rotom!" the Rotom cried out, slowly turning to Mars.

Mars slowly walked backwards.

"Skuntank!" Charon shouted.

Mars looked at him. She had no idea what he had said. She did not know what to do with it. She ran away from the Rotom.

"Rotom!" the Rotom shouted once more. The Rotom discharged as much electricity as he could, lighting up the room briefly with many sparks. A lead spark went to a suspiciously filled test tube, through the tube, then to Mars.

She screamed in pain. "No! No!"

Charon charged at the Rotom. The Rotom fired a discharge of electricity at the Skuntank, and the Skuntank tripped. Saturn pressed his blades hard against the Plasma Pokemon, squeezing him.

"Rotom!" the Rotom shouted. Then, all the other sparks were directed to the same test tube then to Mars. All of his electricity was focused on the test tube and Mars. Despite Mars's running and screaming, the sparks followed her from the test liquid in the test tube started to glow bright.

"Gallade!" Saturn yelled. He raised one of his arms into the air, ready to strike the Rotom with a sharp slash.

"Rotom!" the Rotom shouted. The sparks of electricity turned around and struck the Gallade, knocking him to the table, making him crash more glass and containers. Then, the Rotom fired all of his electricity back to the test tube, through it, and to Mars, bringing Mars to the ground and immobilizing her. She screamed, but she could barely move.

"Rotom!" the Rotom yelled. The sparks thickened. The liquid had become a volatile glow of air; the test tube was shaking. The glow wanted to get out.

_No! _Saturn thought. He charged at the Rotom and tackled him.

But the sparks of electricity were still there. And the test tube broke.

Light instantaneously filled the room. The light stayed for a few seconds. All the four could see was whiteness. There was no sound coming from the light; there were the sounds of thoughts and shouts, but no fancy sound of a "shing!"

Then, the light faded away.

They could see the room again.

The Gallade looked at the Rotom. His eyes were closed; he had fainted. The discharge was too much for the Rotom to handle.

_At least you're done for, _Saturn thought. He looked around the room. _Where's Mars?_

* * *

Nicolas looked up from his bed. Everyone else was sleeping. He went down from the bed. He went to the tall window at the end of the room. The window's length went from the floor to the ceiling; the thin paper panes surrounding it gave the room a nice blue light from the moon and the stars.

The Shinx looked at the scenery. There were not many skyscrapers, but there were many buildings still. All of them had lights on, even at a very late time such as this. The streetlights were on. If one would squint at the ground, one could see that many Pokemon still went on their business and whatever else they were doing. The noise of Pokemon chattering and talking was not loud, but it was noisy. The former humans down there were living as if they had already gotten used to being a Pokemon. It was a strange thing to look at for Nicolas.

"What _was _that?" Nicolas asked. No one responded; everyone else was sleeping.

He looked at the buildings. It _must _have been from somewhere, mustn't it? Maybe it was a Pokemon—he was not sure.

"Never mind," he muttered, abandoning the quest to find out what it was that made him go to the window and search for it.

He walked back to his bed. As he walked on all four of his paws, he looked at his paws. He was so used to walking on all fours now. Memories of him usually tripping on them from the first few days of being a Shinx went through his mind. He smiled at the thoughts of it. But the nagging thought that one day he would become a wild Pokemon with unfettered Pokemon instincts—Nicolas shivered in his mind.

He jumped back to his bed. He rested on the pillow of the bed—he looked at how he rested. He lay down on the bed and rested on it like a Shinx—he _was _one. He was one for over a week, almost two weeks.

_I need to get my humanity back, _he thought as he drifted off to sleep.

* * *

"Mars?" she heard. "Mars, where are you?" It was Saturn's voice.

"What if Rotom turned him into a Pokemon?" another voice sounded. It was Charon's.

"Hey, I'm here!" Mars yelled out. She saw the tables in the dark room. She looked up; the lights were surely off, yet she was able to see in it so clearly. _Huh? _she thought.

She tried to stand up. She fell down, her back facing the floor, screaming again.

"Is that you, Mars?" Saturn said.

"Of course it's me!" Mars insisted. "Are you human again? I can hear you actually talk."

"Actually, we aren't human again. Just let us…in fact, just get used to yourself and we'll just be…we'll be over here."

She heard Charon mumble; it sounded muffled.

"What is it, Saturn?" Mars asked; her voice was tainted with fear. "Am I a Pokemon?"

Thoughts about what to say to her filled his mind. How could he tell her, someone who did not want to be a Pokemon at all—well, perhaps a Purugly, but she was adamantly against it. Saturn saw it; he sensed it. Would Mars get scared and scream? Of course, she would. He did not want to see her go mad because she was a Pokemon. How could he tell her that she was a Pokemon? How could he tell her that she was a four-legged, white-furred Disaster Pokemon that usually bore the scorn of rumors in rural human society?

"Are you going to reveal the truth to her?" Charon asked, looking up at the Gallade.

_I have to, Charon, _Saturn told. _Do not surprise or shock her with the news. I will tell it to her._

Charon nodded. His glasses dropped down to the ground.

_You won't need those eyeglasses anymore, gramps._

Charon looked back up at him, screeching at the Gallade and putting on a face of disgust at the word. Gramps. He did not like it.

The Gallade turned to him. _It's part of the ordeal, Charon. _He looked back to Mars. She was moving but struggling to get a grip on the floor, to stand up on the floor.

"Saturn?" Mars called out.

"Mars," Saturn began, "it is not very easy to tell you this, but…" Saturn gulped. Why did he have to gulp? It was just something to tell Mars. Yet, he knew that Mars would not accept it easily.

"I'm a Pokemon!" Mars cried out. "No! This can't be!" She scrambled on the floor, panicking and trying to run away; she fell on the floor. She felt her fur on the cold floor; she _is _a Pokemon.

"Charon, help me hold her down!"

The Gallade and the Skuntank rushed to the struggling Mars. Her paws slipped on the floor, even scratching it. The two Pokemon heard her shout and scream and even sob. Saturn forced his arms on her torso, keeping her still. Charon put his paws on one of Mars's forepaws, trying to anchor her there. Mars struggled, wanting to get away from the two Pokemon. She was trapped there.

"Mars!" Saturn shouted at her. "Don't break down now! You can still become a—"

"I don't want to be a Pokemon!" Mars yelled. "I don't even want to know what Pokemon I am!"

"You're an Absol!" Charon exclaimed.

"Now you told me what I am!" Mars railed, still trying to get out of their grip. "I didn't want to know!"

"You have to get comfortable with it, Mars," Saturn told, "because you are a Pokemon now! Until we get our humanity back, you have no choice but to stay as a Pokemon."

"I don't want to be a Pokemon!" Mars shouted. She was shaking her head in hatred. She wanted to run away. "I don't want! I don't want Pokemon! I don't want to be one!"

"Saturn, suppress her!" Charon shouted.

"I don't know how!" Saturn replied. "Let me try!"

His eyes glowed red; they were locked on the eyes of the struggling Absol. She looked at them.

"No! Don't be a Pokemon, please, Saturn!"

Mars's eyes drooped. Then, they quickly closed. She stopped moving. She was sleeping peacefully on the floor.

"I can say that is a good idea," Charon remarked. "But, we still have to deal with her when she wakes up." He turned to the Gallade again. "What are you planning to do with her now?"

"I'll take her to the infirmary," Saturn replied. "It's the safest place for her now."

Charon only stepped back and looked as Saturn pulled the sleeping Absol into his arms, slung her to his back, and carried her.

Saturn looked back at the Skuntank. "Follow me," he told. "Leave Rotom behind to suffer for ruining Mars."

* * *

"Wake up," the Lucario said as he shook Maylene awake.

"Huh?" she drawled. She looked at the panes; it was still dark. Everyone else in that bedroom was sleeping soundly. "Why'd you wake me up this early?" she whispered.

"It's time that you start learning how to be a night guard," he replied.

"Wha? Why?"

"Lucario aren't exactly…diurnal."

"I have to be awake at night, too?" Maylene asked.

"Yes, you have to, Maylene. Now, get up."

Her Lucario pulled her out of the bed. The Lucario locked her eyes on her. "Go behind me; I'll lead you outside."

"I have to guard the place _outside_?" Maylene asked. "Are you sure I can handle this?"

"You're almost on par with me, Maylene," the Lucario told, smiling. "You're all right for the job."

She smiled back at him. "I hope you're right."

The two Lucario walked through the corridors and rooms of the gym. The fighting mats were empty. There was no Pokemon there fighting or even exercising. More lanterns lit up the rooms they went through.

"I feel…OK now," Maylene told as they approached the entrance doors. "Is that normal for a Lucario at night?"

"We're very active during the twilight hours," the Lucario began. He opened the door to the outside. "You don't see it in me, but that's because I'm not a wild Pokemon anymore. To catch up with you, I had to get used to sleeping all night and being awake all day."

They went on the grass. "So, when do I have to sleep?"

"In the afternoon, then you wake up at about sunset. Then, stay a little while during the nighttime, and then sleep close to midnight. After that, you wake up at dawn, do whatever you want during the morning, then sleep in the afternoon again."

"You're saying that I have to sleep _two _times a day," Maylene said. "I have to get used to _that_."

"Just like how I had to get used to sleeping _once _a day."

They laughed.

"On to how to do some night watch, shall we?" the Lucario said.

* * *

In the white hallway of the infirmary, Saturn threw the Absol to the bed. "There! That's heavy."

"So, what is the next step of your plan?" Charon asked, lying down on one of the white beds.

"It will sound insane to you, Charon," Saturn replied, "but we have to sleep."

"What?"

"I need to rest," Saturn said. "I'm a Pokemon, you're a Pokemon, but we need to sleep, don't we?"

"We're just going to leave this headquarters unprotected?"

"You're forgetting the fact that there are guards in this place." He lay down on a bed.

"But there is a serious lack of them now!" Charon complained.

"At least we have _some_ of them guarding the place," Saturn answered.

"But…"

"Sleep now."

Saturn's eyes glowed red again, focusing on the Skuntank's eyes.

"What are you doing?" Charon charged at him. "What are…?"

The Skuntank dozily tripped on the floor. He flopped on the white tiles, and then he was fast asleep.

Saturn looked at Charon dozing away on the floor, strangely not having a care of the world from what it seemed. He turned to look at Mars, asleep on the bed beside him. She snored lightly; it was a moment of relief for the Gallade. Three of the four commanders of Team Galactic were all Pokemon; he knew that he had to deal with it when the sun came up.

But, for the meantime, he slept along with the Absol and the Skuntank.


	50. With Them

**Chapter 49**

**With Them**

"_A true faith in Jesus Christ will not suffer us to be idle. No, it is an active, lively, restless principle; it fills the heart, so that it cannot be easy till it is doing something for Jesus Christ." – George Whitefield_

* * *

Cresselia flew through the dark brown sky. Shaymin was on her back, holding on to her as both went past the rooftops of Veilstone.

"Where is the building?" Shaymin asked weakly.

"Over there," Cresselia replied.

The Lunar Pokemon gestured her head ahead of her. Shaymin crawled on the top of her back. She inched forward, daring not to look down any sooner. She looked down.

Down there, a building among all other buildings. There were only a few lights on; the buildings around it had many of its lights on. A few humans were outside standing on the courtyard of the building.

"You want me to go check _that_?" Shaymin whined. "At _night_?"

"I'll be there for you, Shay," Cresselia told with a smile.

She flew down. Air rushed past them. Shaymin gripped her.

Cresselia slowed down. She then slowed to a mere levitation a few meters above the ground. The two legendary Pokemon were behind the building. A few lights were there. Large storage boxes filled the back area. The ground was gray asphalt.

"Hey you!" a voice shouted.

A green energy ball flew from Shaymin's mouth. The guard was now down on the floor.

"Pretty strong for the night," Cresselia remarked.

"I'm just scared," Shaymin said. "It's Team Galactic."

A door opened.

"Ah!" Shaymin fired another energy ball.

"That's just me," Cresselia replied. "Go in, Shay."

Shaymin looked back at her. "Can you come with me?"

"I will."

Shaymin jumped off from Cresselia's back. She went in the door. Cresselia followed.

* * *

Shaymin walked slowly through the corridors. She looked at the doors. They were labeled with many names. She only wondered what was behind them—the names only gave clues and hints to it.

"What am I supposed to be looking for?" Shaymin asked.

"Whatever caused the disturbance," Cresselia replied, floating behind her.

"But there's so many doors," Shaymin answered back. "It's going to take us some time."

"There has to be something unusual here," Cresselia said.

The overhead lights flickered off.

"Hu!" Shaymin screamed as she jumped back to Cresselia.

Cresselia stayed silent. She looked up. Sparks were forming from the lights.

"A Rotom…" Cresselia mumbled.

"I heard that," Rotom said.

The Plasma Pokemon materialized in front of Cresselia. Shaymin shuddered back further.

"Don't be afraid of me!" Rotom told. "I'm not gonna hurt you!"

"What is your business here, Rotom?" Cresselia asked.

"What is _your _business here, Cresselia?" Rotom retorted.

"That is very disrespectful of you!" Cresselia told. "I am the Lunar Pokemon; what are you doing here?"

"You're a legendary, I see." The Rotom turned around. "I'll show you two something."

"As long as you do not harm us," Cresselia replied. "Otherwise, I'll have to resort to physical harm."

"Yeah, trust me," Rotom said, grinning. "I don't want to hurt you. I just want to show you something."

"Then lead the way," Cresselia said.

"Go follow me!" Rotom shouted.

"You're going to alert the humans," Shaymin spoke up.

"I took care of them already."

Shaymin crawled back even further down Cresselia's back.

Rotom floated through the corridors and the dark rooms. Cresselia floated behind him, and Shaymin stayed resting on Cresselia. As the Gratitude Pokemon saw more of the doors and machinery, she looked around. It was the perfect time for someone to attack them. But then she saw more humans. They were not moving. There were also Pokemon alongside them. They were not moving, too. They were just there, lying on the floor. Most of the humans had their eyes opened.

"Did you…?" Shaymin asked. She looked at the Rotom.

"It's not all my fault," Rotom said. "Some former humans ended up here and beat the bad guys up. I think I remember seeing some Lucario joining in the fight; maybe the local gym leader and co. Most of the Galactic bad guys are down. But the leaders…" Rotom turned to the left. "That's what I want you to see for yourselves."

In front of them was a double door. Above it was a metal sign with the word "INFIRMARY" embossed. Through the little windows, Cresselia peeked.

"Who are they?"

"They're the sleeping leaders of Team Galactic," Rotom said. "Technically, one of them is operating somewhere else in the region, and I don't know where _their _leader is. But, I got them bad."

"They're Pokemon…" Cresselia said. "Weren't they protected from the transformation light?"

"Is that what you call it?" Rotom commented. Cresselia faced him sternly. "Anyway, they stayed human for a while. But, what they use to transform humans requires a lot of electricity if you want to, say, transform a person from some distance. Then, look at me, I'm a Plasma Pokemon that can shock you."

Cresselia gasped. "You turned them into Pokemon? Is that what the light was?"

"That's the problem," Rotom remarked. "Too bright when you use electricity. But, that's how everyone else turned into a Pokemon."

"Are you sure there are any other humans that aren't baddies?" Shaymin asked shyly.

"Not sure," Rotom replied. "Haven't heard any word about them. The only humans I've seen for now are Team Galactic this, Team Galactic that."

"That just confirms further that Team Galactic is the culprit," Cresselia said. "It was a bit obvious when the only humans we saw had that uniform on, but…I take your word for it."

"Sorry to ask you this but…" Rotom looked back at the double door. He turned back to Cresselia. "But would you mind giving them a few good dreams?"

"What?" Cresselia exclaimed. "They lead Team Galactic; you just said so!"

"I just want to give them some good," Rotom replied. "Maybe I've been a bit too harsh with them."

"But they—" Shaymin began.

"They've been through so much already," Rotom said. "You'll be seeing that as proper punishment for them but…I would rather let other legendary Pokemon like you to hurt them hard."

"We should have brought Darkrai along," Cresselia uttered.

Rotom smiled. "I change my mind, bring him along."

"Oh no," Cresselia said, "I guess we're done with our reconnaissance mission here. Thank you for letting us know about the source of the disturbance." She started floating away from him. "We'll just report our findings to the others. Thanks Rotom!"

"Goodbye!" Rotom bye'd. "Enjoy that meeting of yours!"

* * *

"So, that's it?" Shaymin asked as Cresselia flew back up to the twilight sky.

"That's it," Cresselia answered. "But that will carry much more weight on the matter of the transformations."

"Because people can still get turned into Pokemon?"

Cresselia rose higher. Air rushed fast again. Shaymin held on to Cresselia.

"Yes, Shay," Cresselia replied. "I don't know if there are any other humans outside Team Galactic, but I don't want to risk turning anymore good people into Pokemon."

"What about Ash Ketchum?" Shaymin asked.

"There's no doubt that he's transformed with the rest of the world," Cresselia replied. "He's probably a Pikachu."

"Let's invite him to the Hall," Shaymin said. "He saved the world more than once. He even saved Mew from dying."

"That was while he was still a human," Cresselia noted.

Shaymin heard the rushing of clouds. "You're not going to drop me back to Flower Paradise?"

The sound became louder.

"We're going to the Meeting Hall," Cresselia said. "We have to report to Dialga and Palkia about this."

Clouds began to surround the two. Lights poked out from the clouds. Cresselia traveled fast through the large vortex. Clouds and nebulous materials went past the two legendary Pokemon. Shaymin screamed all the way through.

Cresselia stopped.

Shaymin opened her eyes. There were the familiar silver walls along with their respective silver floors and silver ceiling. Beyond the windows was the blackness of space dotted with stars and faraway planets. Some of the other legendaries were there, even the Creation Trio: Dialga, Palkia and Giratina, the draconic Renegade Pokemon. Shaymin was in the hall.

Dialga turned around to them. "I'm sure you have found the cause of the disturbance. Tell me, what is it?"

"Strangely," Cresselia started, "the light was caused by a Rotom."

"Did you see the Rotom?"

"We talked to him," Cresselia said.

"And what did he say?" Palkia chimed in. "Or, let me guess, the Galactic scum attacked you."

"As far as I can tell, he isn't a part of Team Galactic. And, he also said why he caused the light."

Dialga and Palkia leaned in to listen. Giratina only looked at the two from the far side of the square room.

"The Rotom actually transformed three of Team Galactic's leaders into Pokemon."

Palkia's eyes widened. "Wow…" he said, putting his hand on his face. "This is actually going very well to our good advantage."

"You said 'three of' their leaders," Dialga said. "There's more, isn't there?"

"I remember that there're five in total," Cresselia said.

"Can you bring Ash to help us?" Shaymin cut in.

"What do you think you're doing?" Cresselia whispered back at her.

"You mean Ash Ketchum?" Dialga asked. "He's now a Pikachu last time I checked in on him; his friends Dawn and Brock are now Pokemon, too. He may not be in the capacity to help us as he did while he was a human."

"You can try," Shaymin persisted.

"Shaymin," Palkia said, "you have to understand the gravity of the situation. Although we acknowledge that Ash _did _save the world a couple of times, we think that he would be very hindered to do something heroic in his Pikachu body. It doesn't take humans mere days to get really used to being a Pokemon."

"Can you at least try?" Shaymin stayed.

"Everyone else is doing their jobs and roles to control and curb the problem," Dialga replied. "Lugia is trying to control the weather because of the former humans who got turned into some trouble-causers. Latios and Latias are helping the 'Pokeized' Pokemon in Alto Mare with their lives and protecting them from the more abusive Pokemon. Yveltal is…it's hard to explain. The point is: who's going to tell Ash about it? And, even if he accepts the offer, what if he fails? He may have a perfect record for saving the world and various others of our order, but the boy himself is not perfect, not even with his friends."

"So, he's out of this?" Shaymin asked.

"He will deal with his own problems," Palkia said. "Living more than a decade as a human makes being a Pokemon a lot more hard to do. And, if I may add another thing, the worldwide Pokemon transformation almost all humans is much more dangerous to the world than some weather problems."

"Why?" Cresselia asked.

"If we don't solve this," Palkia responded, "the massive influx of Pokemon will disrupt the normal order of life for the other, natural-born Pokemon. And, the later we solve this, the more damage there will be that needs to be fixed. I mean, if one human just got changed into a Charizard in the middle of the day in the city, that human will freak out in confusion—and he might end up burning the city down. Think that and multiply it by a billion and you'll see the magnitude of this problem."

_It's a _really _big problem, _Shaymin thought.

"What have _you _been doing since the emergency meeting, Shaymin?" Dialga asked.

Shaymin jumped down to the floor. "I've been talking with the nicer former humans. You know, helping them with words."

"I can accept that…" Dialga said. "It is better than just lying down with the flowers." He turned to Cresselia. "Chasing down the nightmares from the formers, aren't you?"

"Yes, Dialga," she replied.

"If that is all," Palkia declared, "then you are dismissed."

"OK." Cresselia floated away from them. "Bye!" She looked at Shaymin who was staring at the windows. "Shay!"

Shaymin looked back. She ran and panted until she jumped back up to Cresselia's back.

Then, they left.

"Are you sure we really need Ash?" Dialga asked. "Is it really worth the risk?"

"Let's arrange a talk with Arceus about it, then," Palkia said. "Even _he _is deeply concerned about the transformations. At the same time, he does not want to frighten the rest of the world by just appearing on the scene."

The Temporal Pokemon and the Spatial Pokemon looked at Giratina. Giratina looked at the two of them.

"What?" Giratina blurted out.

* * *

Philipp stood behind the window. The sky was slowly turning bright. The sun would appear any moment now. The Totodile had counted the days after he was transformed. Today was the twelfth day. He looked out the window, his arms crossed over his little chest. The sun was not yet there in the horizon, but the sky was already in a dark blue color. Clouds went high over the many buildings that were there. Down there on the ground was a strange sight that appeared to be accepted as the usual order for now: Pokemon walking down the street. Not a single human was there.

Philipp knew that there many of the Pokemon were former humans. Did they ever think about what would happen in the months to come if they never got back to being human? Did they ever think that if they would stay being Pokemon after a while, they would lose much of their remaining humanity? Did they even know that they were already losing their humanity everyday?

He knew he was losing his humanity, too.

He looked at his blue, scaly hands. They were normal to him now, but they were not the human hands that he had had for more than sixteen years. They looked and felt a little too fat—but he had gotten used to them, hadn't he?

The Totodile sat down on the floor. He still liked the idea of fighting gym battles—maybe he might get a front-row seat for the Lily of the Valley general championship. Technically, he was still a Pokemon trainer. _If I'm a Pokemon, how could I still be a trainer? _Philipp thought.

Philipp looked back. A few of them were awake, doing whatever what they were doing as quietly as they can. None of them turned to the Totodile by the window.

He went back to the window. If the idea of journeying to Unova to become human was approved, then they would go. An intense desire to become human again—it was there in him. He wanted his human life back. Living at only a little more than half a meter and with hands that would do no more good than holding stuff and gripping on other objects, Philipp was tired of being a Totodile. Yet, it was all so simple, even simpler than living life as a Pokemon trainer. Making his own Pokemon stronger in battling was now not a primary priority—not that it was the _only _goal in Pokemon training, but it seemed as if it was to him.

He remembered Frank. In one minute, he would have talked in a way that puts Pokemon in much better light than humans, as if humanity was inferior to Pokemon. In the next, he took back what he had just said, sometimes adding that he still wanted to be human again.

Mars had said that after a few months, they would stop wanting to become a human. _Was it really because of that whatever it was that transformed us? _Philipp thought as he eyed the walking and talking Pokemon on the streets and sidewalks. _Or maybe it's because simply _being _a Pokemon is enough to make us want to stay a Pokemon?_ _What if I find more and more reasons to stay a Pokemon?_

He shuddered at the thought of it. Maybe that "whatever it was" was working too fast. Maybe Mars lied when she said "months". Maybe the true word was "weeks". Not three months, but maybe three weeks was the time it took to override and overrule the humanness left in the former human.

Philipp shuddered more.

"Philipp?" It was Tody's quiet voice.

"What is it now?" Philipp asked. He turned around to see his Totodile.

And the two looked almost the same. They looked almost identical.

"Are you talking to yourself again?" Tody asked.

"Not really," Philipp gave. "I'm just thinking about some very deep things."

"Like a Xatu?"

"You know I'm not a Psychic-type, Tody," Philipp said. He let out a small smile.

"Are you still worried about being a Pokemon?" Tody asked. "It's not too bad."

"You only say that because you've been a Pokemon for your entire life," Philipp told. "If you've been one species for most of your life and then one day, you wake up as something else, how would you feel?"

"Uhhh…I would…want to get back to being my old self."

"That's how I feel now. That's what I have been feeling for the past twelve days." He glanced at the window. "When I eat, it reminds me of my old human self, when I had five fingers for each hand and when I had teeth that weren't so pointy."

Tody bit his own teeth.

Philipp smiled larger at it. "Having you as a Pokemon was a good choice."

"I think it's more than a good choice," Tody said. "Do you still want to be human again?"

"Of course," Philipp replied.

"But you won't be able to understand me."

"I can still have fun with you when I become human again," Philipp assured. "We can swim in the rivers, if you want."

"But you can't stay underwater that long."

"Making excuses is not going to convince me to just stay a Pokemon."

"What if you got changed into a Totodile because it was for something good?"

_Ouch. _"I'll think about it first."

"What about breakfast?"

"What?"

"I'm hungry."

"You'll just have to wait," Philipp told. "Maylene and the rest of them are still sleeping. And what if there is a strange Weasel hiding in the bushes?"

"I'll stay here," Tody jabbered fast, "I promise!"

"Sshh! There are other Pokemon sleeping here. You go sleep some more."

"OK," Tody replied. He ran back to his bed.

Philipp looked back at the window. He knew the others didn't mind him—they knew enough to not disturb him when he sat down on some corner and just looked here and there. But he also liked the "good ol' times" where they talked with each other, did whatever they had to do together, and just had fun. Memories of those farfetched times came back to him. The first, distant memories of their being together, when they first met each other. In retrospect, it seemed more than just a coincidence that all of them, even Nicolas, attended the same school. And then, the happy, joyful memory of having his first Pokemon, along with seeing Mary and Peter get their first ones, too. Frank, William, and Clive, being natives of Hoenn, had the special privilege of getting their home region's starter Pokemon—a Treecko for Frank, a Mudkip for William, and a Torchic for Clive. Philipp remembered Wallace telling him that his parents wanted to keep their sons from being Pokemon trainers until they were in their teens. It seemed to be purist harsh, but he knew that it would make them more disciplined and more self-controlled than the usual ten-year-old trainer.

Between that first memory until they graduated from high school, there were many fun memories of them having fun. They would play with the usual Pokemon from the nearby forests. They would play video games in the house when it was raining. There were too many to describe in one go.

Then, the high school years. Wallace's parents had to go back to Orre. The "Hoenn guys" stayed for the freshman year, but only Clive stayed for the sophomore year. Philipp couldn't remember why the other two had left. He only remembered why Clive left after that school year: the family budget was getting too small to maintain his education there.

By the time he and the other two were high school seniors, what remained of that group was him, Mary, Peter and Nicolas. A few months ago, when school had been out for only a few days, he wanted to go to Sinnoh for the rest of the vacation. By that time, Mary's parents and Peter's parents were good friends with his parents. Philipp's parents agreed, prepared for the trip, and they went. Soon, the other two arrived. Since the three were already old enough to take care of themselves, their parents just asked them that they stay safe.

And so, they rented a house in Floaroma Town. It seemed to be the perfect place to stay for the vacation. The flowers were there; perhaps a Shaymin might be there. It all looked out to be a really relaxing summer. The last memory of that relaxing summer was him giving Mary and Peter a "good night", going into his room, and plopping himself on to the bed.

The next day, he woke up a Totodile. It was the end of "normal life" as he knew it.

He wanted to choose the human option in a heartbeat if the antidote to all of this was right there in front of them. _We have to get there fast,_ Philipp thought. _The sooner we can turn back to being humans, the less reasons I'll have for staying a Pokemon. It's just as simple as that, but I know it's not as easy as it sounds. I have to talk to them._

Philipp stayed there. The sun slowly appeared with its rays of sunlight. More Pokemon went out of the buildings and into the outside world of streets and city squares made by humans, yet—he knew it; it would be true no matter what time of the day it was now—there was no human.

_Hungry. I'll have some berries._

* * *

"Do we have enough berries?" Maylene asked, carrying the many berries in the straw basket.

"I think that's enough," her Lucario replied, gathering a few more berries from the bushes. "Wait, let me get some more Lum."

The Lucario reached out to the small bush. It moved.

He growled.

"What's wrong?" Maylene asked. "Some Pokemon there?"

He put on a fighting stance. "Camouflage. I'll take care of it."

"No, please!" the bush cried out.

"What are you doing here?" the Lucario grilled.

"I have to talk to you," the bush said, standing up on its four little legs. "You're a gym leader, after all."

"Shaymin?" the Lucario asked.

Maylene rushed to her. "Shaymin?"

"Yes, I'm _that _Pokemon," Shaymin said. "It's summertime, so I have some Lum berries if you want. And, which one of you is the gym leader?"

"That would be me," Maylene said, pointing to herself. "And we have enough berries already." She looked at her Lucario. "Do I have to bow down to you?"

"I don't mind," Shaymin replied. "I did not come here for that. I have to ask you some questions."

"You may, Gratitude Pokemon," the Lucario honored.

Shaymin blushed. "Uh…all right, thanks for that. I just want to know, did you…did you attack the headquarters of Team Galactic last night?"

"Yes," the two Lucario simply replied.

"How many Pokemon went with you?" Shaymin continued.

"Just a few," Maylene spoke up cheerily. "Me, my Lucario, my Machoke, my Meditite, Rayming the Heracross and Colin the Machop."

"Did you know that Team Galactic was the organization that turned almost every human into Pokemon?" Shaymin asked.

"We deduced it from a prime leader named Mars and from other aspects of the building," the Lucario said.

"Did you get the…" Shaymin hesitated. "…the transformation thingy?"

"Sorry, we didn't," Maylene said.

"I think there were other Pokemon in that invasion as well," Shaymin said. "Those on your side, I mean."

"Yes," the Lucario responded, "about sixteen of them, including the Growlithe guard. All but one of them are inside the gym."

"I can clearly see that you're against Team Galactic." Shaymin chuckled. "Since you're a gym leader, Maylene, I think I'll have to break some news to you. It's a little victory on our part."

"What is it?" Maylene asked.

"Pay attention, Maylene," her Lucario told.

Shaymin looked at the two Lucario, eyeing the both of them. "I think there are four secondary leaders in Team Galactic, very powerful, and one primary leader leading them." She paused. "Three of the four secondaries have been transformed into Pokemon."

"Um, um, um…" Maylene stammered. "They'll be having a hard time, right?"

"Right," Shaymin returned.

"That's some good news," Maylene's Lucario told. "Is that all?"

Shaymin looked back. "That's all, thanks, bye bye, see you!"

Shaymin ran back to the deeper bushes.

"At least they will not be able to intercept us successfully," the Lucario said. He turned back to the bushes. "She's in a hurry."

"You don't need to state the obvious, Lucario," Maylene said with a smile on her face.

The two Lucario walked back to the entrance doors of the gym, holding baskets full of berries for breakfast.


	51. Time

**Author's Note: **Amorphous Explorer, I appreciate your critique of the prologue. Mark's perspective on the matter does seem a bit bland and too unrealistic. Then again, it was written during the early days of fan fiction writing and I was not as analytic as I am now. I also tend to make up expressions on the fly, capturing how people would talk in real time. Of course, when it comes to a teenager talking to his similarly-aged brothers, the stricter English rules give way to a freer (and, many times, grammatically erroneous) talk. And, to be honest, my idioms and analogies may sound very bland. Again, I appreciate your critique of the prologue, and I thank you that you want to at least read some more of the story.

After that, let's move on to the story proper.

* * *

**Chapter 50**

**Time**

_A fortnight is a half in the light of a month,_

_A fortnight is a quarter in the light of two of them,_

_A fortnight is an eighth in the light of a year's third,_

_A fortnight is small in the light of a year,_

_A fortnight is only an instant in the light of a life's course._

_Much can happen in a fortnight._

_It can set the course for a man for the rest of his days._

_A fortnight is two weeks._

_A week is seven days._

_A day is twenty-four hours._

_An hour is sixty minutes._

_A minute is sixty seconds._

_A second is one hundred milliseconds._

_ The change seemed to last one millisecond,_

_An instant._

* * *

_Day 15_

Philipp looked out the window. Pokemon were there, as was the usual order of things. It was the new usual order of things. There was some fighting over there, but the rest of the Pokemon there were going about as if they had been Pokemon all along or as if they had already gotten used to being a Pokemon.

_What happened to getting back your humanity? _Philipp thought. He looked out the window. He was crossing his arms over his scaly chest. _OK, I still want to be human. That's a good sign. I have to act fast. There's just a few months left until we all go Pokemon crazy._

He turned around. Most of them were still sleeping.

* * *

"So you're saying that the Unovan branch is destroyed?" Saturn asked the Gothitelle Pokemon behind the video screen.

"Yes," the Gothitelle replied. "With every member there a Pokemon because of the spill, they can't even cooperate. Not only is it because of their bodies, but it's also because they're starting to _not _want to cooperate."

"When the DEON-1 is poured on the victim, the mental changes happen much sooner," Saturn told.

"I was thinking that was why I wasn't acting wild like them."

"Maybe, Belle." Gallade darted his eyes around. "Is there any way to reverse the effects of DEON-1? Has the team even made a breakthrough there with some antidote?"

"All what's left are broken flasks and former human scientists," Belle said. "Any progress over there?"

"Charon can't really operate well as a Skuntank."

"Is there any progress over there?" Belle repeated.

"None."

Belle rubbed her eyes. "You can make it official."

"Make what official?" Saturn asked.

"That there can be no cure."

It was an ominous statement.

"Commander, are you all right?"

"Yes, I'm still OK," Saturn replied. "Where are you, anyway? Are you inside a Pokemon Center? This was supposed to be an untapped conversation."

"They hardly ever listen in to video phone conversations these days," Belle told. She paused.

Saturn wanted to wait. There was no cure. There can be no cure. It was a disaster. Rudely listening in to others talking on the video phone was nothing compared to living the rest of his life as a Pokemon.

"So, what are you going to do for the week?" Belle asked.

"I'll…" Saturn looked at his hands and twisted his "fingers". "I'll try to get used to this living as a Pokemon."

Belle smiled. "Go tell the others. We don't have much to do, now."

The screen turned blank. Saturn placed his head on the wall and closed his eyes. Then, he sighed.

"What's wrong?"

It was Mars. The door had been left open. "You've been talking to someone, Saturn. I know it wasn't about anything good by your posture."

"Tell the others," Saturn said. He turned around to see the Absol. Looking at her made him remember the screams and the struggles he and Charon had to put up with when she woke up. She was getting calmer—perhaps too fast.

"We can't turn back to humans," Mars guessed. "That's it."

"Yes, that's it."

Mars looked down. Tears were forming in her eyes.

"Please, Mars," Saturn tried as he went and stooped to her. "Don't cry."

She sobbed. The sobs got louder.

"Mars…" Saturn let out. "I don't want you to cry about this! We're all in the same situation; you are not the only one who is a former human!"

"I don't want to be a former human!" Mars shouted. Her dark blue face was blotched with tears. "Help me!"

Saturn hugged her. She cried.

* * *

"There's been an incident at Canalave City," Maylene said. She and the rest were eating berries and snacks on the floor.

Most of the Pokemon looked at her. "What is it?" Neha asked.

"They closed the ports," Maylene told. "It's becoming more dangerous to travel by ship, they say."

"The ports will use Lapras!" Clive declared. "I know it!"

Everyone laughed.

Philipp saw the chance. He raised his hand. "Hey, are we still going to find a way to get us back to being humans?"

"The ports are down," Maylene's Lucario replied, "and I doubt it that any flying Pokemon would try to carry all of you there to Unova, if that's where you need to go."

"Well, I'm not just gonna sit here and wait for the cure to come by," Philipp retorted.

"You don't understand, Philipp," the Lucario told.

"Most of the former humans out there are very likely to not pair up with you," the Meditite added. "And the wild Pokemon are much less willing to help any former human to get closer to being human again. A lot of them see humans as a nuisance or as an obstacle or anything else that is very negative."

"Do we have any solution here in Sinnoh?" Philipp asked.

"You'd need to be a good scientist," Dave replied.

"We don't even know _which _branch of science would produce the antidote," Aigua added.

"I bet it's chemistry," Frank said.

"We'll try our best to figure it out, OK?" Maylene told. She picked up a Lum Berry. "You still wanna eat? Let's talk about something else for now."

* * *

_Day 19_

Wallace opened his eyes to another day.

"Piplu, Pip, Piplup!" It was Dave saying, "Good morning, Wallace!"

"Wait, how—?" Wallace blurted out. What came out of his mouth was "Turtwig?"

"Piplup, Lup." _I know, Wallace._ "Piplup, Pip, Lup, Piplup, Piplup." _I noticed it when I woke up. _"Lup, Lup Pip, Piplup, Pip, Piplu, Lu, Piplu, Piplup. Lup, Piplup." _We can't hear the English, now; we can only speak Pokemon speech or something like that._

"Turt…wig…" _O…K…_ "Turt, Turtwig, Turtwig, Wig, Turt?" _How can I still understand you?_

"Pip, Pip, Piplup, Piplu, Lup, Piplup." _It's like having a second language. _"Pip, lup, Piplu, Lu, Lup." _You know what it feels like._

"It feels weird," Wallace said in a string of Turt's and Wig's. "I don't have a second language."

"You'll get used to it," Dave said in his string of Pip's and Lup's. "I'm surprised _you_ didn't get surprised."

"I'm sure the others won't be as calm when they figure that out," Wallace said.

* * *

After a lunch of berries and poffins and a strange coming together because of the "new language", Philipp went up the stairs along with the rest of his friends. Maylene and her Pokemon stayed downstairs—he did not know why.

He walked through the door, past the beds, and stopped at the windows. The others would stay near the door—somehow, that was where most of the action and talking happen. Some of them just went to their beds and started the afternoon sleep. Philipp sat down on the floor and began looking out of the window again.

"Do you have anything else to do?" Peter asked. It all came out as a mix and mash of Cyn's, Da's, and Quil's, but the two Pokemon understood themselves. "You've been sitting there since we got here."

"I'm watching the rest of this city try to get on with life," Philipp replied with his mix and mash of To's and Dile's.

"You must have some time for us here. We're going to play hide n' seek later. Come to think of it, are you even doing _something _to get more used to your Totodile body?"

"I can get used to it when I want to." Philipp turned back to the window. "I still miss my human body."

"Let's face it, Philipp," Peter began. "What if we won't be humans ever again?"

"'What _if_…" Philipp repeated. "It's an 'if', not a 'will'. There's still a chance that we'll be humans again."

"It looks like a very small chance. And besides, you're not doing anything that will bring you closer to being a human. Sitting there won't magically turn you back into a human."

"We can't go to Unova, so what are we going to do?"

"You can try asking someone who can help," Peter suggested. "Even a little step is better than just sitting there watching others like you going by."

"It's like watching a quiet apocalypse."

"You want the world to collapse?"

"Well, you said it yourself that the chance of me being human again is very small. Might as well watch everyone else collapse on each other before we run to the forests for safety."

"I'm confused," Peter said. "Do you want to be a human again or not?"

"I want to be a human again. I'm just trying to see how everyone else is."

Peter started walking away. "You're getting stranger everyday," he said. "I hope it's not the thingy or whatever it is that changed us into Pokemon."

"It's just me," Philipp assured. "I'm not getting sick from being a Pokemon."

Then, he looked back at and out the window. It still looked normal—if Pokemon walking everywhere with no human in sight was considered normal. It was as if the lack of English and all the other human languages was just a small obstacle to be destroyed in almost no seriousness. Was there not supposed to be spreading panic when all the former humans took one step further from humanity? It was all too calm.

Philipp waited for a fire in the city. It never appeared.

* * *

_Day 20_

"Slateport City's got flooded yesterday," Regirock beeped.

"How?" Palkia asked, walking on the shiny floors of the hall. "Wait, let me try…it's the former humans' fault."

"How did you know?" Regirock asked back.

"The former humans are already causing so much trouble, not just to the world but also to themselves. Just look around you! You, I and Kyurem are the only ones here. The rest of them are doing their best to minimize the damage done by the former humans _and _Team Galactic."

"They have also lost their perception of human language," Regirock added.

"I've seen that yesterday," Palkia said. "You really need to be faster in getting here if you want to tell me news that I haven't heard."

"Can't you travel around the world to find out yourself?" Kyurem cut in.

"I need rest from time to time," Palkia replied.

"You're the Spatial Pokemon, for crying out loud!" Kyurem yelled back. "You can travel through space very fast!"

"Doing that uses my energy. You know that I can't travel through space for an eternity nonstop." Palkia turned to Regirock. "OK, maybe the lesson here is: Please be faster. I'll soon be going in to help the people—I mean, the former humans at Canalave City. If you have anything worth telling me, wait until around eight in the evening."

"How do I calculate the Hoenn Standard Time for that?"

"I've told you many times before." Palkia put his hand on to his face. "Subtract the time at Sinnoh by three."

"Four?"

"Three," Palkia corrected. "I'll give you more time to think the answer out next time."

* * *

_Day 21_

It was three full weeks since the worldwide, instantaneous transformation. The former humans were doing their best to cope with life as a human.

They were only doing their best. They were really trying. They were only trying. The chaos was spreading.

What about the fall of the Global Terminal at Jubilife City? An Onix—former human—caused it. Manaphy hurried to the city to stop the Rock Snake Pokemon. According to him, he could not resist a Pokemon battle. Of course, the battle had gotten out of hand. Not only did his opponent—a Metagross—get hurt, but many Pokemon inside the Global Terminal were also hurt. Many of them had at least a broken bone or a smack into the head or the chest. Almost half of them went faint within the first few minutes after the tall building fell. The Global Terminal also smashed into some other buildings, knocking out at least thirty more Pokemon.

_Day 23_

Or what about the swarm of Bug-type Pokemon at Santalune City? Some Pokemon, including a couple of Vivillion, had maximized the volume of their new alarm clock the night before. When it beeped, the Vivillion panicked out the window. So scared by the alarm, they moved around the city frantically mimicking the sound of the alarm clock's beep. That brought many other Bug-types on to the roads and the sidewalks; they were moving around in frenzy. Few were really hurt by the swarm, but Viola, now a Vivillion herself, told the Pokemon who went inside the Santalune Gym that she was really scared if something like that happens, for fear that she might mindlessly join in the swarm herself. It would not be something fantastic, in her view.

_Day 26_

Or what about the flooding of Castelia City? It was a collective effort by some of the Water-type Pokemon. Rowdy play coupled with some battles that should not have taken place and at least one Seismitoad created a tsunami. Small boats went upside down while the ships rocked to and fro. The ports and piers were filled with water. The buildings facing the water had water crashing into the glass windows. Electricity for many of the establishments went down. The Rock-type Pokemon and the Fire-type Pokemon suffered from the big wash with the most pain. Since it was also a city of trade and business, what business was left there descended into disorder from the tsunami.

_Day 30_

As time went on, only a few things were getting better. The former humans had gotten used to not being so burdened by the calling of their technologies—their bodies rendered normal use of them very difficult. Only a few of them were able to use a computer. The rest may have slashed the keyboard with claw or accidentally smashed the keyboard with their heads. Even picking up a book and opening it was a challenge to many. What if the former human had no hands? Or what if the former human's hands were too big to open the book? The crawling Bug-types and Grass-types would have an advantage over those who could not crawl when there was a book on a shelf.

But then again, why read a great, intriguing, heart-stopping, twist-filled novel when surviving was the highest of all priorities? Reading for leisure was deemed a waste of time by then. Why read such a book when you have to guard the house from any criminal Pokemon? Did a Caterpie or a Wurmple read a book during its spare time? A few intelligent ones might, if they wanted to, but most of them would just try to survive. Staying in shelter or a little hole in a tree was enough.

Another thing that was getting better was the relationships. Pokemon trainers, breeders, scientists, ninjas, burglars—even the person who just wanted to keep a Pokemon as a pet; all of them were now on the same level as their Pokemon. Of course, some may say that the greatest friendships ever made were those between two who were the opposites of each other—in gender, in personality, in quirks, in many other things. That is true. That does not constitute that there are no great friendships out there that were those between two who have only a few differences between each other. Even two human friends had the great similarity of being human. And now that the barrier of species was down, the Pokemon and his owner were alike. The role of leadership and power over Pokemon was fading. More and more former humans were giving up that role. The majority of the former humans with Pokemon had some sort of mutual relationship with them.

Despite the troubles and disasters caused by the former humans, they were weathering through the hard times. Even when an earthquake—caused by a Golem gone mad—shook Pewter City and crumbled even the sturdy gym of the city along with the Pewter Museum of Science and many other houses, only a few Pokemon became desperate enough to steal and rob. Some of the former humans did not even care that their houses were gone; they were Pokemon now.

_Day 34_

And that was the problem. More than a month passed by since the night of the transformations. Many of the former humans still wanted to become human. As each day passed, though, they became more comfortable with the life of a Pokemon.

In places of the human-made house, using whatever shelter was available became the norm. A small bungalow was deemed a luxury—too much of a luxury. Trees became the home of even the Starly and Pidgeot who were once humans.

Human food was not really replaced. Many of them still liked the occasional, if not usual, canned corned beef. But they were eating it raw. No need to cook it; they were Pokemon now. Even then, the "cheap" berries and other Pokemon foods like seeds and poffins and Pokeblocks were eaten even by the former humans. The initial fear of getting their stomachs upset or even dying from them was, for the most part, gone.

Only a handful of scientists around the world still tried their best to work in their fields—most of the scientists trying to help each other make a way, any sort of way, to turn themselves and the rest of the former humans back into being humans. The rest of the laboratories and science equipment were either left untouched or were used for purposes other than scientific research and experimentation. It was no surprise if one walked in and saw that the Pokemon inside were using Bunsen burners as a somewhat cruel game of dare.

The mega-corporations and big businesses were falling fast. Bankruptcy was imminent. In spite of that, not even the presidents of those companies cared. Only the obvious greedy money-hoarders complained about it. Besides them, making billions of money did not matter anymore. What can they really buy with a billion dollars, now that they were Pokemon? Maybe respect, but it was an evil to buy respect with money—even the natural-born Pokemon knew that. Some of the leaders closed their large businesses and settled for the jobs that were deemed necessary for the time: Selling some food and juices, offering training services and massage services for the fighting Pokemon and the tired Pokemon respectively, reviving the faint Pokemon and healing the injured Pokemon—all for a minuscule stash of money.

_Day 36_

Even the government changed with the former humans. The complex system of full democracy, complete with vetoes and elections and impeachments and a huge book labeled as the region's constitution, was thrown away for the simpler hierarchy of a Pokemon at top and some divisions here and there in the middle. The Pokemon at the bottom were the laymen and laywomen. They did not complain when the President of Sinnoh tried to announce it to every citizen still there—at least there was some kind of order in the region. Various Pokemon were also drafted to be part of the police force; not much training was required. No need to learn how to shoot a gun right; being able to blast a criminal with a breath of fire was enough to be a strong officer.

Television was not watched much. Radio had replaced the television—many of the former humans were able to carry it. They did not want to be sitting ducks watching the television—and what would they watch, anyway? The cartoons and the soap operas and the game shows and even the documentaries were off the air by now. All that remained of them were the last few episodes made while the former humans were still humans. How interesting it was, to see them act and have fun, to see the work of animators come to life, to hear a narrator talk and describe whatever footage was shown to the viewer. None of them had known about the transformations.

_Day 40_

Even the smallest of human houses were too big for many of the former humans on the streets and in the cities. They could not reach up to get a grip on the door knobs. Getting food from the fridge was difficult, too. Tables and chairs were either too high or too low for them to use properly. It was only natural that within forty days, more and more houses became deserted. Trees, caves, holes, whatever natural place was there for the former humans to live in. Some of them built little wooden shelters that were very small compared to the houses.

The old economy was falling. No one was giving as much to businesses as they did before the transformations. But why control the stock exchange in this time when all the former humans had in mind was surviving and, maybe, trying to figure out a way to get back their humanity? Money still went to the government—but even the mayors and the political leaders, all transformed into Pokemon, wondered what to do with all the money. They were telling others to pay their taxes, but what will they do with the money once every payment was filed and done for the day? Surely, they could not use it to beautify their houses—even they were abandoning their houses. Perhaps they could use it to fund other government projects, but the projects themselves had so many setbacks because of the transformations.

Gone was the mass transport of products by huge ships and big airplanes and large trucks. Now, it had to be two by two or three by three at a time. Who is going to transport all the metal pipes for the new sewage system? Almost no former human could drive a truck, now.

The only ships and boats that went to and from the ports were small sailboats. The occasional Lapras or two would be there once in a while. Even then, why would they travel? Going out to another region for a vacation was a crazy idea now. Travelling back to one's hometown, on the other hand, was a valid enough reason.

Airports had stayed operational for only a few days after the transformations. Even while they were open, no airplane took off from the airports, nor did they land on the airports. Most of the airplanes that were up in the air at the time of the transformations crashed into the seas and oceans. A few crashed on the land—that usually killed most of the Pokemon on board, especially since they were in so much panic from being a Pokemon. A meager number of airplanes were able to land, but none of them formally landed on an airport. All of them landed somewhere else: on a plateau, on a huge patch of grass, on a rather flat island—anywhere safe. After a few more days, airplanes either became more shelters for the former humans and even wild Pokemon or decayed into uselessness, artifacts of a civilization that suddenly disappeared—for the most part.

* * *

_Day 41_

Philipp looked out the window. He was used to it. The small huts appeared scattered on the ground. They were the opposites of humanity's former shelters. Beside the fitting houses of painted concrete and of roofs that shut out all rain and snow and of big size were tiny wooden houses. They looked more like huts or little cellars than houses. The Pokemon were going in the huts.

The watching Totodile tapped on the window. Seeing the strange new way of life become older everyday was both boring and interesting for him to do. It was interesting because he was seeing how other former humans like him were coping with life as a Pokemon. It was boring because the new changes and new developments in their lives were taking days to appear.

Where was the trouble that Maylene and her Pokemon heard and talked about once in a while? If city fires were already devouring the buildings and the Pokemon of places like Goldrenrod, why isn't there something similar happening here? Philipp did not want to die and suffer, too. He also wanted the same for his friends and Maylene with her friends and her Pokemon. But, with how the former humans were doing, the peace was not going to last long. A disaster was going to happen.

"Philipp…" It was Wallace.

"What is it, Wallace?"

"We're going to gather some berries for early dinner," Wallace said. "Want to join?"

"No, thanks," Philipp replied without looking back at Wallace.

"You're just going to sit there all day?" Wallace asked.

"I'm waiting for a breakthrough."

"What do you mean?" Wallace walked closer to the Totodile.

"I'm waiting for the news or some order," Philipp started. "I'm waiting for some door to open so we can go on our journey to be humans again."

Wallace sighed. "You remembered what Maylene said. Even if we could go to Unova, they won't just hand the cure to us. I bet they'll only use it for themselves and leave none for us. And what about going to Unova? I tried asking some Staraptor and a Swellow with her family but they all said 'No.'"

Philipp stayed silent.

"I know you want to be human again. I want to be human again, too. But, it isn't easy."

"That's the greatest understatement I've ever heard," Philipp remarked.

"Are you going to just crack wise at me, or are you going to do something worthwhile?"

"OK," Philipp conceded, "I'll go with you." He stood up from his place. "I was also waiting for dinner, anyway."

"Would you like it more if I told you it's going to be berries kebab?"

"Anything's all right."

* * *

_Day 45_

Rustlings of boxes.

Mars turned around to the closed door behind her. "Saturn…?" _Absol…? _

The Gallade opened the door. Behind him was a room dotted with racks of boxes. "I really don't know how to articulate this to you, but…" _Gallade, Lade, Gallade, Gal, Gal, Gallade, Gallade, Ade, Gal._

"But what? What are you doing there?"

"I have abandoned hope for becoming human again."

Mars gasped. "No, no, no, no, _please _no!" she pleaded. "If you don't, you'll go wild!"

"It is called 'Facing the Reality of the World'. I am very sorry for this, but there really is no way to bring any of us back."

"Come on, Saturn!" Mars persisted. "Don't be more Pokemon!" There were tears on the Absol's eyes. "I don't want you to…"

"Didn't I tell you weeks ago?" Saturn told. "There will be no way to transform us back. The final result of DEON-1…cannot be avoided."

"Saturn!" In her mind, she was expecting the Gallade to, somehow, lose much of his memory. Maybe he might go into a seizure and wake up a completely different person—or Pokemon. Saturn was not a crush of hers, but she loved Saturn enough to hate his being fully Pokemon.

"I'll still be Saturn," the Gallade assured, "just different. Soon, you will be different, but still yourself."

"No!" she protested. "I…don't want to give up my humanity!"

"Maybe you will when you wake up tomorrow. It _is _also very late in the evening."

"I'll find a way!" Mars shouted. "Don't give up on yourself!"

Then, the Absol ran away from the Gallade.

_Day 46_

The Absol opened her eyes. Despite her fur, she could still feel the cold of the metal floor beneath her. Sleeping on her bed felt out of place—she had resorted to lying down on the floor.

She saw her same old room. A desk with shelves, a few books on the desk, some fluorescent lights on the ceiling, a wardrobe—not really much for a commander, but her job was somewhere else in the room.

_Saturn…_Mars thought. The mental image of a Gallade came into her mind. It was easy; she was prone to thinking about the Gallade more than thinking about the blue-haired human Saturn had once been. She knew it was not her fault—it was DEON-1 working as usual.

_Is being human really a good option? _the question went into her mind. She shook her head. She growled at the thought of it. All she needed was a good ground on still wanting to be a human. "I'll prove Saturn wrong!" she shouted. "I _will _become a human."

She got shocked with a spark of electricity.

She bit her bed in self-defense.

"Rotom!" she shouted. The Absol looked around, but Rotom was not there. He did not seem to be there. "Don't try to hide from me!"

Then, she looked at her room. Was the room really useful? Not to an Absol, not anymore to Mars. She would be better living somewhere else; the air conditioner felt too cold for her. The outskirts of Mount Coronet would be a good place to—

"No!" the Absol gasped. "I don't want to go Pokemon crazy!"

_You'll have to stop resisting it sooner or later._

"No, Saturn! You don't know what you're talking about!"

_I _know _what I am talking about, Mars. I do not want to see you descend even further into insanity._

"I'm not insane!"

_So says the people who are but deny the facts._

"I'll only be insane when I'm crazy Pokemon!"

Saturn heard the sobs from behind the walls. He could sense it. But what could he do? He may be very knowledgeable about chemistry, but he had left the research and experimentation up to the chemists and other scientists because they were better at it than him. The remaining scientists were either not here, truly living the lives of Pokemon in the outside world, or here, being incapable to do any actual research and experimentation for an antidote because of their bodies and because of their minds.

He wasn't going crazy. He knew it. _But Mars…_

"Stop it!"

_I will have to resort to putting you back to sleep if you do not stop whining._

Mars gasped for breath. The tears were already dropping to the floor. Her eyes were drooping. Moans and groans of "No" and more "No" went out of her mouth as she staggered to keep her posture. The feeling of drowsiness was there.

As she fell to the floor, she tried to keep her eyes wide open. What if sleep speeded up the process of mental transformation? She did not want to test the theory. "No…" _No…Saturn, why? Why do you want…to make me…Pokemon…?_

"For your own good," Mars heard. Saturn was in the room.

She closed her eyes.

Sleep.

* * *

"Dave?" Philipp asked from his place in front of the window. It was nighttime.

"Yes?" the Piplup replied.

"Do you still want to be human again?" _I'll assume a "No" from you, _Philipp thought.

"Actually…I'm beginning to wonder about that."

"So, you _don't _want to be human again?"

"Not really," Dave answered. "It's because no one has announced some way or something that is going to help us go back to being human."

"Laziness much?" Philipp blurted out.

"I'm not lazy!"

"Let's put it straight to the point, Dave—"

"Why do you still have to ask me about becoming human again? We have more important things to do like getting berries and other food. How are we going to find a way to become a human if we don't even know where to start? We can't just go to Team Galactic and ask around, 'cause they'll probably cage us first for their experiments."

It was essentially the same thing. The Totodile still wanted to be human again, but where to start the journey—_or was it where to continue?_—is unclear. Asking Dave about Unova is something out of the question. Philipp had tried to talk with a Staravia. She had a flock of enough friends who were able to carry everyone from Clive to Wallace. The Staravia had refused the request. _Unova's too far for us, _Philipp remembered the Staravia saying. He also remembered her name: Cordia. Almost enough letters for "Cordial," but how was that going to help?

"Yoo hoo, Philipp; did you zone out?"

"Just thinking, Dave."

"That means the discussion is over, isn't it?"

"Yes."

Dave walked away from the Totodile, perhaps to get even more berries for breakfast or maybe to train even further with Aigua and the other nautral-born Pokemon.

Maybe it wasn't just him anymore. Maybe everyone had secretly abandoned wanting to be human again. Staying at Veilstone Gym was a bad sign—if they were really going to continue the journey to be human again, they would only stay for a week at best. They would have hastened especially after hearing what Mars told them. There was a time limit. Philipp knew and remembered that when the time is up, they would no longer desire to be human again. The scary part about it was that he did not know how much time they had left. Mars had put it at somewhere around one or two months left. But maybe she was lying, or maybe she was confused about it, too, and she did not really know how much time everyone had left. Or maybe she truly did not know and she had made an intelligent guess—but a wrong one, nevertheless.

Dinner was over. Philipp did not need to take much of a bath. Taking a dunk at the nearby sea was enough to clean the Totodile. He had no project to work on—no book, no music, no art.

Philipp went to bed. No project to work on. That led him to think about his parents. How come he never really thought about his parents that much? Almost everyone else said "Mom" or "Dad" or something similar everyday. They even wondered on going back to their parents—assuming they could find them—and see what Pokemon they were and even live with them for a few more weeks. Maybe it was one of the side effects of being transformed, but did young Totodile live relatively vagabond lives compared to humans? He tried to remember the facts that he had read about them in the biology textbooks he had read years before.

There was not much to retrieve, but he remembered that most female Feraligatr were, in human terms, single parents. The male and the female would only come together for mating. After the mating season was over, the mother and the father would go to their own ways. Then, there was something along the lines of "after a certain point of maturity (in regards to the offspring), the mother Feraligatr will then give up her maternal responsibility over them." That would probably mean that once the offspring Totodile had lived long enough, they would either be scared of their mother as she tried to drive them away from her territory or just move away and start living their own lives—as if their mother was only a Pokemon that brought them into this world.

Philipp was scared. What if he went back to his parents but his mother would only see him as an intruder to her territory? Feraligatr were also omnivorous. What if his mother, being so hungry, lunged at him at first sight and started chewing him? Mothers losing love of their children—that was how many Pokemon lived the early part of their lives. Would she even recognize her own son? And what about his father?

He thought about the Pokemon his parents had. "Ned" had a good Girafarig ever since he was seventeen. Maybe that was a good choice of a Pokemon for his father—with the added psychic ability. Owana, his mother, had two Swinub—not really a trainer or a coordinator or even a breeder. She was the mother who stayed in the house, did housework, and cared for the two Swinub and Philipp.

He sighed. He slept.

* * *

_Day 49_

Seven full weeks since the night of the transformations. Discord and chaos are rising. The more animal instincts of being a Pokemon were appearing in the former humans. DEON-1's slow implementation of all the Pokemon instincts and such natures was silent. Then again, amidst all the various circumstances happening to every former human around the world, who would notice one's own slow and subtle change of behavior. Not a few realized what was happening to them when it was too late, when the damage was already done and undoable.

In such a naturalistic, evolutionist way, the instinct of "survival of the fittest" was being manifested in the former humans. The moral convictions were rotting. Hundreds of millions of children were set against their parents in the quest for survival; some of the parents retaliated by eating their own offspring when they were depraved of any good food. Even submission to what was left of the Sinnoh government and its enforcers was falling—they were not even trying to hide their rebellion against them. The sight of a Pokemon or two carrying bags of canned goods and gold was not uncommon anymore.

Broad statements will not send the reality of clearly enough. Some examples will have to suffice:

Much of Saffron City was burned to the ground. Even the Silph Co. headquarters' left much inside as ashes or as beyond repair. A lot of backyards were without any green grass. Trees were either left barren or burned completely. Several Pokemon died in the wildfire. The sole cause of it was a small clan of angry Houndour, Houndoom and Tauros savaged the town all because an enemy settlement—filled with Noctowl, Haunter and Gengar with a couple of those from the Abra line—was there and, as their desires go, members of both of them wanted to hold Saffron City. Innocent Pokemon died in the fire and the crossfire of attacks that went back and forth between the two groups. The primal quest for territory was in both of the clans.

_Day 53_

The Johto Safari Zone was overrun. The instant transformations of the night guards—along with the rest of the staff working there—and their instantaneous trips to dozing right after led many Pokemon to take the opportunity to be free from the Safari Zone. Several weeks after that, the Safari Zone still had just about the same amount of Pokemon—but more than half of it was made up of former humans who began to leave their humanity behind. What was the use of the Safari Zone if there are no human trainers who would go in and catch the Pokemon there? The Safari Zone had become another set of places to inhabit. Expenses were usually a problem if the Zone had no customers going there in the first place, but in a world where seeing a human was very rare even in the centers of the world, why should one bother with expenses? The Johto Office of Internal Revenue was in shambles, with all the Pokemon there having had abandoned their jobs and having had gone to other places where survivability was higher for them. If the Zone did not file its taxes, it would not matter at all. In the sight of a Pokemon, filing taxes illogical—giving money to a bureau that was not even in operation. The Safari Zone was just another zone of Pokemon trying to survive and live.

It is also interesting to see what the Pokemon of the Zone were doing before and after the transformations. Before, they were only mildly wild. Whenever there was a ruckus that was too much for the other Pokemon to pacify, the guards and watchers would come in to intervene. After the transformations, with no human watching them and with no human having authority over them, the fate of the Pokemon was left to the Pokemon. As such, there were predators in the Zone along with the prey—just like almost every place where there were Pokemon, whether the Pokemon were former humans or not. And as such, just like almost every place where there were Pokemon, some Pokemon chased and hunted each other. Others would try to run away to varying degrees of success. And as such, just like almost every place where there were Pokemon in a world where the only traces of humanity were less than an eight hundred and where Pokemon were almost everywhere, Pokemon died in the Safari Zone.

_Day 59_

Mossdeep City is mostly underwater. The island where it stood is now filled with water; the only portion of land where it is still not affected is the land around the Mossdeep Space Center. Gym leaders Tate and Liza, now Solrock and Lunatone respectively, were able to escape on a ship along with some others, including the mayor of Mossdeep City. The minor earthquakes that were caused by some of the Pokemon underwater proved to be too much for the island city. Many had wondered why the underwater Pokemon—or, perhaps, former humans—were shaking the ground up. To this day, they really did not know for sure. Maybe it was a territorial battle between multiple groups of underwater Pokemon. That was the most probable reason. Nevertheless, countless conspiracy theories rose up after the sinking of much of Mossdeep City. And then, there were the old myths and ancient tales that others tried to apply to the event.

But, it could be said that the sinking of Mossdeep City was a sign. A sign that would signify the ongoing transformation of the former humans. They were becoming less human. And this is one of the results of such a becoming.

_Day 64_

By this time, the question of overpopulation comes into question. In one instant, more than six billion Pokemon were instantly added into the Pokemon population. In that same instant, more than six billion humans were instantly removed from the human population.

Overpopulation can lead to starvation—having an instant addition of about six billion Pokemon would drastically increase the rate of food consumption. The abundance of artificial foods like "Poke chow" and "canned corned beef" only delayed the inevitable result for some more and some more places: lack of food. Overpopulation can lead to thirst—sure, there are many Water-type Pokemon and Ice-type Pokemon, Pokemon who don't need to drink water, and Pokemon who are even averse to drinking water. However, the ocean is filled with saltwater. The Pokemon who do need to drink water have to resort to bottled water, a freshwater stream or a freshwater lake, or a waterfall. Overpopulation almost always lead to death—aside death from thirst and death from starvation, a lot of the wilder, less tame Pokemon would fight each other over the lack of food and water and perhaps territory, too.

_Day 67_

Pokemon raiding houses and apartments is a common sight. Many former humans gave up living in their apartments, in their houses, even in their mansions. And the Pokemon raiding those residences were a mixed bag of both former humans and natural-born Pokemon. The differences between the two sorts of Pokemon were blurring. To both of them, food that was edible was good enough food—even if it was a can of worms or a can of Wurmple. Tailow and Swellow would not mind eating from a can of Wurmple, even if it meant killing them in order to eat them and use their bodies as sources of nutrition.

_Day 69_

Most television networks had already stopped running reruns of old shows. Maintaining a television channel was too much for the former humans—the common question sounding like "Don't you think everyone else already stopped watching the TV?" followed by something like "Everyone's caring about their lives more than what's coming up afterthe morning news." And so, if one would turn on a television today, all one would see is static or a black screen with these white, blaring words: "NO SIGNAL".

Some radio stations are still alive and going, but many of them had been abandoned, too. The entertainment radio shows were slowly converted to the genre of the "survival radio show", a type of radio show where the host would tell the listeners tips on how to survive in the wilderness. Any former human who held a radio would probably be listening to one of these survival radio shows.

_Day 71_

Any ground was taken for the former humans to live on. If not their houses and their rooms—of which they would complain as being unnatural to them now—then on the backyard or in a dark alley or in the bushes nearby or up there on a tree or in a cave or on the mountain or, for some scavenging Pokemon like Meowth, in abandoned building.

Wildfires were starting everyday, due to some former human sneezing fire out of his mouth. The fire departments, with their fire trucks rendered as almost useless because not that many Pokemon could drive them to the fires, were already filled with Squirtle, Vaporeon, Lombre and other Water-type Pokemon. It is intriguing to note that they were doing much better than they had done before with hoses, fire trucks, and Pokemon on the firefighters' side.

The Boards of Education dissolved. About everyone was a different species now—a species that emphasized on the instinct to survive and, for most of them, ignored much of the higher education. The view of education reverted to that of the earlier centuries when proper education belonged only to the elite class of the society—and everyone else down there at the bottom of society's ladder was working and only acquired a taste of good education if he encountered a textbook on the table in a house—and the usual textbook was also expensive.

_Day 73_

With the influx of new Pokemon came also the influx of Pokemon who were criminals. It made sense. Mafia-esque organizations such as Team Rocket still attempted to continue their shady businesses, ranging from the plain mugging to bank robberies. Almost all sorts of crimes still went on—arson, piracy, murder, resisting arrest, destruction of property, even suicide—although none of them were committed in the old human ways.

Medical services were still in operation. However, with the production of human-made medicines slowing down despite the machinery and robotics in the factories, Pokemon were depending more and more on the natural cures and the organic remedies. Mixtures made from berries, herbs, powders, hairs, and eyeballs were shown to everyone else as the answer to this disease, the solution to that sickness. Since ingredients like the tail of a Raticate were often needed for the reason that they provide the "necessary vitamins and minerals" for the medicine, the already rising mortality rate of Pokemon went slightly higher.

The occasional old poster of some candidate running for mayor or governor was there in almost any town. The common former human turned his mind away from politics. With every other former human going his own way, he went his own way, too. Now, the only politician that mattered was the one on top: the president of the nation, the governor of the state, the mayor of the town. It did not appear much of a far cry from pre-transformation politics. But the care for politics and the higher government was dimming. The former humans were now Pokemon. They could now handle things by themselves. No need to do the regular routine while waiting for someone to oust a corrupt leader so a better one can step in.

There was no room for the ideology where everything was everyone's. There was no room for any proper government move unless everyone knew it or unless the move came with much force and power—if the government wanted others to know what its plans were for the good of the nation. Television news was already off the air and only a scant amount of radio news was on the air at any time. Even newspapers were fading away. News was now brought mostly by word-of-mouth. Not many Pokemon could pick up a pencil and write some news on paper for others to see. And what if one of the relayers misremembered an important detail? The commoners in some other town would be listening to a rumor, not the truth—but how would they know that what they were being told was the truth? Then again, the listeners would likely brush the news aside if it really did not affect them—or if it appeared to not affect them.

_Day 76_

With the influx of Pokemon also came an influx of potential mates. After two months, many former humans knew enough to mate with their partners. For those who may be offended at the idea of Pokemon breeding, the details will not be put here. However, with so many Pokemon mating now, there is bound to be many more Pokemon eggs, which would result into many more Pokemon being born over the course of a few months.

But when they mated, the mating was treated by others as a sign that the partners practically gave up on humanity—or, at least, on becoming human again. The mating would lead to a Pokemon egg, and someone has to take care of the Pokemon egg. Mating led to family life, whether before marriage or after marriage. Before the transformations, the humans saw it as sacred and even the morally right choice to mate after marriage. Mating before marriage was an immorality in the sight of most humans. Now, almost no one was getting married—they were now Pokemon, after all. Their morality was still there, but it was going away piece by piece, day by day.

Survival of the fittest was what the Pokemon instincts leaned to. Morality was shoved to the backseat whenever the instinct to stay alive came up. The recent scholarly debates over the objectivity of moral truth were thrown away from the minds of the former humans. As Pokemon, they defaulted to the relativistic side of the debate. To them, lying would only be bad if it did not give any good benefits, even though lying _is _bad. With their Pokemon instincts forcing their remaining human morality to treat morals as tools for manipulation and gaining advantages, the former humans sunk deeper and deeper. The only ones who were not affected by that were the ones with the strong moral convictions—they were relatively few in number compared to those who succumbed to their animal instincts.

As if the legendary Pokemon were the only Pokemon who had any moral convictions at all.

* * *

_Day 80_

In the center of the hall was a large, round table. The most powerful legendary Pokemon were there, standing around the table, talking.

"What about restarting the world?" Celebi asked. "The former humans are essentially killing themselves. Four of the world centers of business have already been burned down or flooded or just destroyed, thanks to too much Pokemon in one place."

"Arceus has somehow locked any edits to past time," Dialga said. "That means I can't go back in time and stop the transformations."

"That doesn't seem something Arceus would do," Rayquaza remarked.

"Arceus said his plans do not seem to make sense at first," Palkia replied. "We will have to take his word for it."

"What about transforming every former human back into humans?" Lugia said. "That sounds pretty simple to do."

Every other legendary Pokemon looked at Mew.

"I know what you're going to try," Mew began. "But, I don't have the ability to permanently transform a Pokemon into a human. I can only be another Pokemon for a long time before I have to revert back."

"Just give it a shot, Mew," Ho-oh insisted. "Do it on one former human. If it backfires or if it really doesn't work, then we'll take back the idea."

"If I murder someone on accident, it's all Lugia's fault!"

Then, Mew teleported away.

"What are we going to do with the world, now it's back to having a population of over ninety-nine percent of Pokemon?" Celebi asked.

"Sustain it," Palkia said. "I'm sure the remaining humans will have some common sense and start making children if they want to stay alive without a flaming judgment from one of us or even Arceus."

"And don't worry," Dialga declared, "we still have a chance to transform every former human back into their original species as humans. The only obstacle between now and that goal is knowing the solution to the problem, how to get over the obstacle."

"Hey," Kyurem spoke up, "I did not come here for a motivational speech. So far, every idea we suggested has at least one major flaw. Even Regigigas's plan to scour the planet for the right minerals and properties has the flaw of crushing too many Pokemon in the process, not to mention the possibility of demolishing the habitats of the Pokemon who live underground."

"_You _haven't suggested any idea, yet," Yveltal shot.

Kyurem eyed the Destruction Pokemon. "What about putting all the former humans into a deep sleep, and then we transport their souls and minds to one big dream world where they'll live the rest of their lives as humans in a dream."

"You know that is not really a solution to the problem," Dialga responded. "If we just snap all of them to sleep, they will be vulnerable to the elements while they sleep. A strong Pokemon could kill them and they won't notice it until they actually die. And bringing every former human into one secret place so that they'll all sleep and go to the dream world is not a good idea, too. They may have good relationships and friendships with their own Pokemon; _those _Pokemon will wonder why their good friends are not there. They will try to search for them to no avail. And, making all the former humans live out a dream world where they are humans only dodges the problem because, in reality, they are still Pokemon."

"I'm desperate for a good idea," Kyurem confessed. "Do I get a prize if I tell you an idea that actually works?"

Xerneas hit the Boundary Pokemon with his antlers. "This is a matter over the lives of billions and billions of lives. This is not a contest."

"Yes, Xerneas," Kyurem replied, "I affirm that." He paused. "We're _legendary _Pokemon! Solving problems like this is supposed to be something easy to do. How come we don't have any Pokemon who can just turn every affected Pokemon back into humans? Here we are, the strong of the strong, the best of the best, feared by all but the worst of the scoffers, yet none of us can't even turn a single Pokemon into a human?"

Every other Pokemon there turned to him. Dialga wanted to stop him, but Kyurem had a point.

"We could turn humans into Pokemon—even Ninetales could do it!—yet we can't do the reverse? It's either we're really not as powerful as we think we are or Arceus is putting another limit to our capabilities. Arceus could bless us with the power to change Pokemon into humans, but he did not!"

"Watch your words, Kyurem," Palkia told. "If Arceus was here, he would banish you for many millennia to pay for your irreverence."

"If you have nothing good to say," Dialga added, "don't say anything at all. Sometimes, I wonder why we bother bringing you here."

"All right," Kyurem said. "I'll just stay silent here, if that is going to help you find a way to bring those former humans back into 'current humans.' And one more thing."

"What is it now, Kyurem?" Dialga asked.

"What if the former humans do not want to be changed back into humans?"

"I've seen an increasing number of those incidences," Palkia answered. "We've talked about the matter before. We struggled on the terms of the former humans' free wills and the dreadful 'robotic resort,' but, so we will not waste more time, I will just tell you that, after further consultation with Dialga and Arceus himself, we have reached a conclusion."

_Say it already, _Celebi thought.

"We will have to…" Palkia looked at each Pokemon there. "We have to openly manifest ourselves to every Pokemon down there once more."

Silence passed by as everyone else analyzed the conclusion.

"Wait," Celebi spoke up, "you're saying that we have to go out in the open, risking being mauled by a lot of Pokemon, so we can go closer to transforming the former humans back into being humans?"

"Exactly," Dialga said. "It does not sound 'cool,' as the young ones use the term, and it _is _risky, as you have pointed out, but it is necessary."

A flash appeared and Mew was back in the room. "What did I miss?"


End file.
